I Put My Paper Where!
by katanakid14
Summary: Thalia, Nico, and a young half-blood race against the clock to save five monsters from being discovered by mortals. Little do they know what they might awaken on the way...
1. Chapter 1: Beginning

((Okay...I know it's a few days late, and that's because I caught strep throat which SUCKS TO HAVE and was swamped with make-up work, but...Here it is! My new story, I Put My Paper Where? I don't own PJATO or anything like that.))

"Alabama. Why have we been in this state so much lately?" Nico yelled in frustration. Thalia and Nico had started the trip early, hoping to spend some time relaxing before they started training.

"Relax. One week, that's all we have. Plus, this isn't too bad. Look, there's a Burger King over there. You like Burger King." Thalia said temptingly.

"Yeah. I do. But, we're going in the middle of nowhere. Mist is so strong because of all the monsters that pour out, that humans don't even know this place exists. We can't even order pizza."

"Wow. You win, this does kinda suck."

"Uh-huh. And, the kid's five! With ADD and ADHD. This is probably the first time he's been around people, aside from his mortal parent. Who, probably, died from a monster attack."

"No, my father told me that the previous inhabitant was a demigod sent there to protect the place from Kronos. You know, in case he decided to try and let everything loose at once. So, the boy's mortal parent isn't dead."  
"Maybe he got lost in the woods. Parent sent out some sort of distress call. My question is, how do all three gods think the child is their's, unless..."

"Eww! I don't want to think of that!"

"No, Thalia, what if they either all...you know...the same woman, but it's been so long, no one remembers who was there first."

"Or, it could be that the woman has such a common name, that they all know someone by her name."

"Exactly. This could all be one little coincidence. The mom must be scared witless though."

"Tell me about it. Oh, great."

"What?"

"I just got a text from Percy. Apparently, another oil rig exploded in the Gulf about an hour ago, so he has to go help. That'll put the honeymoon back a few days."

"Yep. The world's going to the Underworld."

"Yet, no one finds it strange that two oil rigs near each other have exploded since April? Two in fifty years is okay, but not two in five months!"

"You think it might be monster related?"

"Maybe. But, let's focus on this." And so, they drove on until they reached their destination.

"You have reached your destination." The TomTom GPS system said.

"Yes, we know. Now, shut up!" Nico slammed his thumb onto the power button, killing the little british man inside.

"Nico, that's not nice."

"First, it's an inanimate object. Second, I'm tired of it."

"You should know about inanimate objects that are actually animate."

"What?"

"I'm saying, what if that thing was real?"  
"Like, alive real?"

"Yeah."

"I'da thrown him out of the car at that Burger King we stopped at. I noticed something as we were listening to the radio."

"What?"

"That Adam Lambert song, If I had you, is like our theme song. You have the lovey dovey crap which would be our relationships, and the if I had you parts would be how the gods needed Percy to not be, you know turned evil. There's a thin line between the dark side, me, and the light side, you. Then there's the wild side later on, which would be Grover's search for Pan."

"And, you got all that out of one song?"

"Yeah. Oh, and he wears black eye liner and leather. Definetly us." Then, they finally reached their destination. They sat in the car for a moment, taking in the scene.

"Why does it look freaking EXACTLY like the mansion in the Eddie Murphy version of the Haunted Mansion..." Thalia mumled as they rang the doorbell. About a moment later, they heard the shuffling of feet, the sound of cloth sliding down wood, and then more foot steps. The door swung open quickly, and an amphisbaen slithered out of the doorway, leaving a small child in it's place.

"Hi, my name's Thalia. And, that's Nico. Is your mommy home?" Thalia asked, taking his little and shaking it gently.

"Hi! I'm Hadrian." He said the r with a slight w, sounding even more like a five year old. "My mommy's gone somewhere, but she'll be back later."

"How long's she been gone?" Nico asked suddenly as his ears tickled.

"What time is it?"

"About 6."

"She left an hour ago."

"Oh, you've been here all by yourself since then?"

"Yeah, ut, we have lot's of pets, so I'm not lonely." Hadrian dragged them both inside, slamming the door shut behind him. The interior of the home was beautiful, in an eerie way. Shed snake skins hung from the walls, each with a name of the species it came from. The walls were painted white, so the snake skins could be seen easier. A giant chandelier hanging from the ceiling looked like it would give way at any moment, but Hadrian sat down under it anyways. A moment later, a small ball of fur pounced on him from above, playfully nipping at his fingers.

"Aw! Scruffy!" Hadrian giggled as the dog licked his face.

"Hm...by the way that hellpup is licking him, this may be your brother." Thalia whispered.

"Not a chance. He's Hermes's."

"How can you tell?"

"Check your pockets." Nico laughed as Hadrian began texting away on Thalia's phone.

"Hadrian. It's not nice to steal." Thalia held out her hand for the phone and cleared her throat. He bowed his head and handed it to her.

"So, who are you? Are you my mommy's friends?" Hadrian asked from underneath Scruffy.

"Actually, we're friends of your father." Nico replied, whistling for the hellpup. As does all of his species, he came bounding over to Nico and sat obediently at his feet.

"Hey! Scruffy never listens to other people! How'd you do that?" Hadrian asked in amazement.

"You want to see more cool stuff?" Thalia asked, holding out her hand. Just as Hadrian was about to grab it, lightning shot out, shooting around them both and hitting Nico in the butt.

"Not cool!" Nico shouted in an autotune sounding voice.

"Cool!" Hadrian quickly put his hand between Thalia's and closed his eyes. When the shock didn't come, he gave her a very practiced pouting face.

"No, no! We're hear to talk to your mommy about your daddy. If you're good, we can show you more." A moment later, Thalia's phone rang. She read the text's sender and rolled her eyes. _Nico, why couldn't you have just said this out lou- I AM NOT SOUNDING LIKE A PEDO!_ As if he could read her mind, Nico laughed.

"Ha, ha." She said sarcastically.

"My mommy usually comes home around dinner! We should eat now and see if she comes!" Hadrian ran off to the left, making Scruffy chase him.

"He could just be a klepto." Nico whispered as they followed him.

"Only one way for sure way to find out if he's a halfblood." Thalia shrugged. They entered the kitchen, and were immediately pelted with boxes of food.

"Why are you throwing these at us?" Nico laughed, clearly enjoying how angry Thalia was getting.

"I can't read this stuff." Hadrian pouted

"Do the words kinda...float off the page or get scrambled up?" Thalia guessed, raising an eyebrow.

"Yep!" A moment later, a poptart came crashing down on Nico's face, leaving crumbs of icing in his hair.

"Dyslexia. Hermes is one of our options, and he steals." Thalia whispered as she picked out a few of the crumbs.

"Yeah. But, there's still the ADHD."

"Simple way to test that. Hey, Hadrian! Dodge Ball!" Thalia made small balls of static electricity on her fingers and threw them at Hadrian as he turned around. He dodged each one, taking a moment to turn and see where they all hit. Hadrian's mother is now missing a window.

"I'm bored." Hadrian went back to looking through the cabinets. A snake jumped out of the cabinet, nearly biting Hadrian's ear off. He somehow ripped the cabinet door's handle off at threw it at it, sending it on it's way.

"Bad Tony!" He yelled after it, careful to avoid the death glare it gave him afterwards.

"Thalia...easier, less destructive way." Nico walked up to Hadrian and turned him around.

"What?"

"Staring Contest. Winner gets a piece of candy."

"Okay!" And so they began. The battle was intense. And, lasted a full two seconds. Finally, Hadrian looked away to see the rings on Nico's hand.

"You lose! No candy!" Nico chided.

"Not fair! I can't concentrate! Are you married?"

"What? No!" Thalia shouted for Nico.

"Well, your wearing rings."

"Wings? I'm not wearing wings." _I'd probably look like the Angel of Death and give that old man we met in Kentucky who tried to look down Thalia's shirt a heart attack. Ha ha. Pedos are so weird._

"Ahem. I slapped him afterwards." Thalia corrected Nico's thoughts.

"What's a pedo?" Hadrian asked innocently. _Crap, I thought out loud._ A moment later, the front door opened and a rather frightened woman came into the kitchen with a gun.

"Stop!" She shouted, pointing it to Nico's head. Nico turned slowly to look at it, then looked at the woman and blinked innocently.

"Hey. How's it going?" He said casually. He took a step forward, making the woman step back.

"Mommy, what's that?" Hadrian asked from the counter.

"Nothing, sweetie. Go play with Scruffy in the living room."

"What are you gonna do?"

"I'm going to bake you a cake later."

"Yay! Cake!" Hadrian rushed out of the room, followed by the hellpup. There was a moment of silence, during which Thalia decided to start humming the Jeopardy theme song.

"Why are you humming that?" Nico shouted, startling Hadrian's mom.

"Because, I'm trying to see if this will speed up her decision to shoot you."

"You know, I'm not Percy."

"I know."

"Who are you people?" Hadrian's mom finally breathed. Nico took a step forward and grabbed the gun. With a slight tug, it fell out of the woman's hands, clicking onto the tiled floor.

"We're half-bloods. Like Hadrian." Nico walked over to the counter and put a few of Hadrian's snacks away.

"You've come to...?"

"Take him back to Camp. If, you'll let us. Actually, our orders were to find out who his father is."

"Hermes. What, those guys up there don't know who they've slept with lately?"

"No, but a few of them have met women with your name, same age, same colored hair. It's pretty hard to sort it out then without a visit." Thalia spoke up.

"True. But, what's Camp?" Nico and Thalia quickly explained camp to Ms. Hadrian's Mom ((GENIUS NAME!))

"Oh. That sounds a little...crazy. Sending a five year old out there?" She sighed.

"Yes, but I've found that, the earlier you start training, the better a chance you have of living. And, because he's a young son of Hermes, he should be able to fly under the radar. After he starts to learn about some of the gifts a son of Hermes has, and monsters smell him, he should be able to take on anything." Nico assured her. He picked up the gun and placed it on top of the fridge, winking at Thalia.

"Yes. Put it up there until I can hide it again. Usually it's in my car. I work downtown, right next to the court house, so we have people trying to escape all the time. It just helps me feel a little safer."

"And the bullets are normal bullets?" Thalia asked.

"I have a different magazine of celestial bronze that Hermes gave me before he left. I'm a pretty good shot and he noticed when we went hunting once."

"Hermes goes hunting?" Nico asked, stifling a laugh.

"Yes, what's so funny about it? The gods can't do normal things?" Thalia asked, shooting him an odd look.

"I don't usually think about what they do for fun when they are on Earth. I'm usually to busy trying not to make them angry, like a certain cousin of ours."

"Back on topic, please. I will let Hadrian go to Camp. But, there's something you need to know first...and, you may want to sit down, because this is pretty big..."


	2. Chapter 2: Cracking

((And, because I took so long, I will reward you with Ch. 2...have fun. I don't own PJATO, but I do own Hadrian...))

Thalia and Nico immediately grabbed a chair, making a triangle shape with Hadrian's mom.

"What would that be, Ms. Hadrian's Mom?" Nico asked, immediately getting rewarded by a slap on the ear by Thalia.

"First, don't hit him. Second, my surname is Barter, like trade."

"Weird...most people who meet Hermes steal, not trade." Nico joked. Slap.

"Most young ladies don't hit their boyfriends." chided Thalia.

"Most young ladies aren't demigods into punk music, who don't live by society's the power!"

"Okay...so...you were telling about us about something evil?" Nico asked, getting Ms. Barter's attention.

"Oh, right. Um...one week from today is the anniversary of the day Perceus destroyed the Kraken in the ancient times." She began carefully. The Kraken was born of a creature born of Hades's flesh, ordered to be made by Zeus to help take down the last of the Titan's force before they cut up their father.

" used Medusa's head to turn the beast to stone. The Gray Sisters had told him about the head, and basically told him how to kill the Kraken." Nico recollected a dark week in his past in the Underworld.

"Correct. Well..I'm not quiet sure how it happened, but I came home one day to the shock of my life."

"The Kraken is here?" Thalia immediately went for her silver bracelet, but was stopped by Nico.

"No, he is far too would take Typon the same amount of time to regenerate." He shook his head slowly.

"I came home and found a lion, a giant boar, a flying pig, and a baby Minotaur playing with Hadrian!"

"The Nemean Lion. I've seen him before. But, was he fully grown?" Thalia asked.

"No, like most of the monsters here, he started as a newborn and just grew and grew and grew. One day, some idiots came by taking notes for the census that they were doing this year. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to hide , when the official opened the door, they ran off, into the real world.I think the Mist distorted his vision, because the man then asked why I had so many dogs and cats."

"Okay, we can just hunt them down, destroy them, no harm done." Thalia pounded her fist into her hand.

"No, there's this prophecy I heard of, so old even Apollo himself has almost forgotten, that says that if the four beasts are captured, then all of humanity is screwed."

"Again, we just kill them." Nico liked the sound of Thalia's plan more and more.

"Will you just listen, for a moment? They have been captured and sent to different zoos across the nation! If they continue to grow under human care, I think they will notice how different the animals are from what we assumed they were! Instead of a bull or ape, they could find out that the Minotaur is real! The Mist would have no effect!"

"But, that's not possible. The Mist can't fade." Nico sighed.

"No, but it can be manipulated. Hell, I can do it. But, the Mist let's mortals see only what they comprehend. And, if they've heard the stories, and have the least bit of doubt..."

"Right, Thalia, the Mist would have no effect. The Kraken would rise from Tartarus, the Mist would reveal your world to mine, and all hell would break lose." Ms. Barter finished, leaning back in her chair.

"Mommy, can we have cookies?" Hadrian's voice called from the living room.

"Not right now, sweetie! Listen, I have a favor to ask of you."

"What?" The teenagers said together. Unfortunately, they already had an idea of what was to come.

"Take Hadrian with you. I want him to train and be a grand hero. Plus, he knows these monsters, they were his best friends. He could help you a lot."

"So...you're telling us...to take your five year old son...on a road trip to zoos across America...to break in and steal animals?" Nico was flabbergasted.

"Yeah. I've found out that the Nemean Lion is in New York, the boar is here in Alabama, and I'm trying to locate the Minotaur and the sow now."

"Wait! How is that even possible? What kind of relationship would those five monsters have?" Thalia screeched.

"Calm down. Did you know why Percy was the one of the prophecy, but not the hero who died?" Ms. Barter asked.

"Well, no, but the prophecy said it would!"

"Exactly. From what I've heard of your adventures, Annabeth could have been with anyone, but still convince Luke to do the right thing. Percy was simply the one to give him the knife, to open the door. Percy was the signal, the sign of what was to come."

"And, if the humans find out about our world, it may create just enough chaos, crime, war, confusion, any other thing you can think of to bring back some of the baddest of the bad in Tartarus." Nico pointed out.

"Fair enough. But, still, I don't buy it." Thalia crossed her arms and turned towards the wall.

"No, but you need to buy the fact that mortals aren't as dumb as you make us out to be. We can figure out that a lion isn't supposed to be about 10 feet tall with indestructible fur. When something is a pig, or when something is a flying pig. You know, the little things like that." Ms. Barter rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Nico.

"Fine. We'll take him."

"WHAT?" Thalia was ready to strangle Nico.

"Well, why not? Plus, we need a third member of the quest. Of course, we'll have to consult Chiron."

"I never undestood his name. Spelled like Chiron, but pronounced like Ciron." Ms. Barter shrugged.

"Um...okay. We'll go send him an Iris-Message and see what he says. But, he'll say no!" Thalia said in a sing-song voice.

Five minutes later, they were riding back through the town in Nico's black Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560-4 Spyder with Hadrian's suitcase, a stuffed animal, some demigod supplies airlifted in by a wind god's child, and Hadrian's wonderful songs.  
"Face down in the dirt, she says, 'This doesn't hurt', she says, 'I've finally had enough!'" He sang along with the radio.  
"Forget what I said about the kid. He knows Green Day, Linkin Park, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. I like him already." Thalia sighed, propping her feet up against the dash.  
"Yeah, but based on that singing..."  
"Ew, stop it you weirdo. Ms. Barter said he's Hermes's."  
"Whatever, where to first?"  
"Birmingham Zoo. I don't know how to get there, but we have TomTom."  
"Hadrian, what did I teach you about TomTom?" Nico asked the child in the rearview mirror.  
"TomTom will deserves to die and his time will come."  
"Come what?"  
"Soon, painfully, and hopefully it'll be that British guy."  
"Good boy."


	3. Chapter 3: Owie

((Fine, and chapter three. I don't own anithang but Hadrian and the way I just spelled anything.))

"All right, we're in." Nico said into his watch, followed by a short staticy noise.

"Roger that, Nico, me and Dalia are on our way to the rendeboo point." Nico enjoyed the way Hadrian pronounced some words. Especially Thalia's name, because it made her mad.

"Roger that. Kchh." Nico looked left and right, then shrugged. He ran forward, tucked himself into a roll, and landed on the other side of a bench. Right where Thalia and Hadrian had been sitting, watching him the entire time.

"Excuse me, James Bond, I don't want to ruin your game with Mini Me over here, but we have a boar to find." Thalia rolled her eyes as Nico made his hand into a gun and pretended like he was straightening out a tuxedo.

"Fine. It's that way. I still don't see why we went after the Erymanthian Boar first." Nico pouted. He really didn't like Alabama.

"First, it's the closest. Second, what do you have against Alabama?" Thalia watched Hadrian play with a boomerang he had stolen from the gift shop, wondering when he would hit himself in the face.

"I just don't like all the idiots down here. They do such stupid things, like redneck jokes, tailgating parties, and my favorite, the way they fix their cars." Nico

"Or, is it because when you were around things weren't segregated?"

"Segregation reminds me of how fast things changed for me while I was in that stupid hotel. I missed a great chunk of some of the best years in history."

"Yeah, but you got caught up to speed, and didn't freak out...too badly."

"Meh. Let's just get on with this. Okay, you have a plan, ri-"

"Owie! The boomberang hit my head!" Hadrian had tears welling up in his eyes, daring each other to jump.

"Oh, it's okay. That, um, 'boomberang' is just a big bully. You know what we should do with it?" Thalia asked, a mischevious glint in her eyes.

"What?" Hadrian's eyes lit up the way Travis and Connor Stoll's did when they were planning a robbery.

"You should throw it as hard as you can in...," Thalia closed her eyes and put a finger in the air. The wind changed direction, now headed towards the security guard sitting by the gift shop, "that direction."

"Will you kiss my boo-boo?" Hadrian asked, pointing to his head.

"What? No. Now, throw the boomberang."

"But, my head hurts."

"Throw the boomberang, Hadrian, and I'll buy you another boomberang."

"No! Boomberang's are mean to me! You saw, Nico, you saw! Tell Dalia!" Nico was trying very hard not to laugh, but nodded his head in agreement. Thalia sighed and bent down to kiss Hadrian's head. Hadrian rubbed his head for a moment and nodded.

"Now, throw the boomberang. And, if it hits that guy over there, don't worry, he's just taking a nap." Thalia willed the air current to increase in speed, now making ten mph winds blow in an oval in the zoo. Hadrian threw it easily, aided by the magic wind. It flew a straight path, hitting the guard in the head, then circling back around to Hadrian's hand. Until, Nico decided to see if the guard was out. And got hit over the head. Hard.

"Ow! Geeze, Thalia, we're trying to knock them out, not kill them." He rubbed his head and got an idea. "Hey, Thalia, will you kiss _my_ boo-boo?"

"No! Now come on, we have a boar to rescue."

"Truffles is strong! He can get out by hisself!" Hadrian corrected Thalia,"but Nico can't kiss his head. See, watch." Hadrian jumped onto Nico's back and pulled on his lips, trying to make them go over his head. Nico was trying very hard to fight the urge to slap the boy, and was winning so far. That is, until, the second security guard exited the gift shop, saw them and the knocked out guard, and came over to them. The man apparently thought Nico was trying to kidnap Hadrian and the child was fighting back, because the guard's taser appeared in his hand. He held up the taser and opened his mouth, only to have Nico shoot dark energy out of his hand and knock him back into the shop.

"How did you-" Thalia was cut off by a scream in the direction of the boar.

"What? You can control the air and shoot lightning, but you think I can't control the deeper earth and shoot shadows? Someone holds herself highly." Nico said sarcastically.

"Just shut up and shadow travel us to the boar." Thalia pushed Nico into a wall, only to have him and Hadrian fall into the shadow, dragging her along. After a moment of suffocating silence, they re-emerged in front of the boar's cell. There was a large glass screen in front of them, displaying the large monster in front of them.

"Truffles!" Hadrian ran forward, but then remembered that there was glass. He stopped and politely knocked on it three times, waking up the boar. It looked like a wild african hog right now, with large tusks, a big belly, and strong looking legs. But, it's eyes were full of sadness and glazed over.

"What's up?" Nico asked Hadrian.

"He's been speedated. I saw this on Animal Planet."

"Speedated?"

"Yeah, this guy said they have to speedate animals to get them."

"Oh, you mean sedated." Thalia walked up to them a moment later, a celestial bronze hunting knife in her hands.

"Um..how'd you get that past security? I had to leave my knife in the car."

"After being a Huntress for a while, you will find that there are many places to hide a hunting knife. This, I stuck in my jeans and taped to my thigh. It was a parting gift from Lady Artemis."

"So...you just undid your pants just then, slipped them down your butt, and removed a hunting knife...strapped to your thigh?"

"Yeah. You missed it." Thalia teased. She picked up Hadrian and moved him back a few steps.

"You want to do it?" Nico asked Thalia, pointing to the glass.

"Yeah, but only if you sing a song for me."

"Fine. What type?"

"...Did you really need to ask that?" Nico shook his head and tried to think of how many punk rock songs he knew. Only one would fit this situation.

"I can't escape this hell...so many times I've tried! But, I'm still caged inside. Somebody get me through this nightmare, I can't control my self!" Thalia kicked in the glass at that moment, shattering it to pieces. "So what if you can see, the darkest side of me, no one will ever change this animal I have become!"

"Nice." Thalia winked at Nico and moved towards the boar. Although it was kind of...well, freaking huge, they managed to wake Truffles up and convince him to run into a wall with them. A moment later, they were standing outside of a Holiday Inn, getting ready to go back to their room. They walked inside, only to have the front desk clerk yell at them for bringing in 'the largest rotweiler he has ever seen'. They said it was Hadrian's seeing eye dog, which made a bit of sense, considering the child was riding on it. They went up to their room, 423, and laid down. Nico and Thalia shared one bed, while Hadrian and Truffles shared the other. After they heard the two snoring, Thalia spoke up.

"You did a good job singing that song."

"You did a good job kicking in that freaking glass." Nico mumbled. _Shadow traveling three times a day, plus I had to shoot that guard! Now Thaila knows I can do that. Dad doesn't even know I can do that! _

"No, really. You ever take singing lessons?"

"Yeah. There's tons of dead rockers in the Underworld. I did a few times. But, can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah?"

"Why don't you like Hadrian?" A shadow crawled across Thalia's face. She swatted it away, knowing that Nico was trying to get her to turn towards him.

"He reminds me of Annabeth when she was younger."

"Oh, sorry."

"No, it's okay. Let's just...go to bed." She turned away from him, pressing her back into his chest. Then, she felt him poking her in the butt.

"I don't have my knife on me. You can't grab it."

"Good, because that's not my hand." Slap.

"Not on your life, Agent Powers."


	4. Chapter 4: Decisions, Decisions

((cool. Only a day old, but I already have four reviews. Oh, Stash, we'll see how this turns out...*insert MY evil laugh* I don't own anything but Hadrian. and Nico's shadow throwing power...which is freaking BOSS!))

"Nico."

"Rmm."

"Nico, wake up."

"Mh-mh."

"Nico!" Thalia pushed Nico off the bed, sending him tumbling onto the floor. He stood up and looked around the room, seeing nothing out of place. He threw a nasty look at Thalia, then tried to lie back down.

"No, listen. What are we going to do?"

"What?"

"What are we going to do next? We only know where the lion is, then, after that, it's nothing. Plus, we can't just drag the boar around with us. Look, it's grown twice it's size, just as we've slept!"

"Which has been how long?"

"About four hours."

"Dreams?"

"No. I felt your Mini-Me trying to sneak into my cargo bay. Now, seriously, what are we going to do?"

"Well, first I'm going to have to buy a cup and start wea-"

"Not that! Do we want to kill the boar, or set it free, or what!"

"Shhh! Hadrian's still sleeping, you don't want him to hear. I say we let it go."

"But, it'll destroy everything!"

"Then, we kill it."

"But, Hadrian will be heart broken!"

"Fine. What if we let it go, I keep Hadrian occupied while you track it down in the forest and..um...dispose of it."

"That's horrible!"

"It's the best way. Hadrian will think the boar went on it's own will, and we don't have a mess to clean up. Unless, you want to send a group of demigods out here to kill out and gain experie...Thalia, don't you listen to me, I'm warning you. Don't you use that prism. Don't you turn on that flashlight. Don't you say Chiron, Camp Half-blood. Don't you tell him wha- Oh, great. Nobody listens to me, I'm just the king of dead guys." Thalia quickly explained the situation to a sleepy (and slightly annoyed) Chiron.

"I...On one hand, it would be best to kill the beast, to save quite a few people's lives. But, on the other, you risk emotionally challenging a little boy. I believe that, at the age of 18, you two are old enough to make your own decisions."

"Huh?" They said together, expecting some large yarn about what to do.

"That really boils down to this: You're waking me up at three in the morning. Please, let me sleep." And with that, he threw his alarm clock into the rainbow, cutting the connection.

"Great. Now what?" Thalia asked, looking over at Hadrian. He looked so peaceful in his sleep, smiling even though Truffles's butt was in his face.

"We could take him to Percy's. They have nothing to do since the honeymoon's been postponed. We could get rid of the boar, then after we pick him back up, we could go after the Nemean Lion. What do you say?"

"Hand me a drachma." They Iris-messaged Percy and Annabeth quickly, grossed out after seing them half naked. They looked away as Annabeth pulled the sheets over her body and turned back around to explain things.

"I don't know...This sounds kind of sketchy." Percy yawned.

"I think it's a good enough plan."

"I don't know, Annabeth. We don't know that much about kids, and your brothers grew up years ago, so we've had no recent experience."

"...What if I told you I was pregnant and this was training for the baby?" Thunder clashed, then a bright light filled Percy's room. Athena stood there in hair curlers and a grey robe.

"First, don't comment about my hair, Perseus! Second, I will strangle you for impregnating my daughter! Third, MOVE OUT OF YOUR FREAKING MOTHER'S HOUSE!" And so, the chase began. Well, until Paul and Sally ((Now Mrs. Blofis)) appeared in the doorway, each weilding a celestial bronze knife.

"Oh, it's Lady Athena." Sally told Paul.

"Hello, Sally, Paul, it's a pleasure to see you again."

"The pleasure is all ours, madam. Pardon me for asking, but why are you chasing my step son around the house?" Paul asked, throwing the knife down.

"He impregnated my daughter."

"What?" Sally yelled.

"This is getting good. Go get those gummy worms Hadrian stole, I want a snack." Nico laughed.

"Perseus Jackson," Sally ranted "I can not be a grandmother! I'm only 35!"

"Honey, you're 40." Paul corrected her.

"Paul! Not in front of immortals! Fine, Paul is actually 42. Ha!"

"Oh, so that's how it's going to be. Lady Athena, she-"

"Guys! Stop fighting for like a second!" Annabeth yelled, ruining the fun. "I was speaking hypothetically. So, Mother, get that knife away from Percy's privates, Sally, please stop giving Paul a wedgie. Thal, we'd be happy to take the little guy in for a day. Spend some time with him before he has to go get beaten up at camp. Right, Percy?"

"Lady Athena, I thought my wife said to get that knife away from there."

"Yes, but she didn't say when, or in what direction...like...a downwards swipe."

"You wouldn't da-AH! OH MY GODS, ANNABETH, LOOK WHAT YOUR MOTHER DID TO ME!"

"Oh, hey, nice racing stripe." Nico quickly shot a shadow through the rainbow, cutting the connectiong and blasting a painting off the wall.

"So, tomorrow we head for New York and drop him off?"

"Yep. We should give him some things though. Like an emergency contact list, some drachmas, and maybe buy him a toy."

"Please, Nico, if he is hanging out with Percy, they are going to Toys R Us. And, he's a son of Hermes. He'll clean the place out."

"True enough. Hey, wanna have a pillow fight to help us sleep?" A moment later, they had broken all the pillows on their bed, were all sweaty, and were panting hard.

"Hey, Thalia?"

"Yeah?"

"How do you think I'd look with a racing stripe?"

"Good Night, Mr. Herbert."


	5. Chapter 5: Market FillIn

((I had an awesome idea! You see, I was listeningto some punk, mainly Green Day Linkin Park and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, when an idea struck. I'll watch a KH AMV. The one where Riku fights Roxas, while New Divide plays. So, now, I've had an epiphany. I could do a crossover of the two after this! I don't own PJATO, but I do own Hadrian and that idea!))

"Got your sleeping bag?" Thalia asked as they packed up the luggage cart, running through the check list in her head. After all, this child had been left in her capable hands...sort of.

"Yep." Hadrian threw the green bag onto the cart, barely missing Truffles. He and Nico had gone to a store yesterday, buying a few snacks, that bag, and a few coloring pages for entertainment. Nico's words still rang in his head from their trip to the Walmart. _Don't steal unless it's absolutely necessary. It's a bad thing. _Hadrian's hands ached to push things into his pocket as they walked down the toy aisle. He shivered at the memory.

"Got your jacket in case it rains?"

"Thalia, he's wearing it! Plus, it's kinda raining now."

"Fine. You've got everything, right?"

"Yep. Oh, can I have a drama?" Drama was Hadrian's word for drachma, but Thalia thought it was amusing that a half blood was asking for drama.

"Sure, but why?" A moment after she handed it to him, he reached into his pocket and brought out a few things. Thalia's knife, Nico's skull ring, Nico's cup, you know, the expensive stuff.

"Hadrian, what do you say?" Nico asked as he took back his belongings.

"Sorry. That's why I needed the drama! I was going to give it to you as compenseiat...conposa-"

"Compensation?" Thalia and Nico asked together.

"Yeah, that. Here." Hadrian slipped it into Nico's hands, who slipped it into the leather pouch tied around his waist with a cadaceus on it.

"This is your allowance. You get some at camp for doing chores, but a road trip and not stealing is good too. You can spend drachmas at the camp store. But, there's this really cool place I want Percy to take you where you can spend it like mortal money. It's amazing there. So, be good so we don't have to take any drachmas away, okay?" Nico coaxed, flipping one of his own drachmas around in the boy's face.

"Yeah! I bet it will be a fun place! Percy's the one you call Seaweed Brain, right?"

"Yeah, but don't call him that. That's our special nickname for him. Oh, but do me a favor?" Thalia asked, handing him back her knife.

"What?"

"Stab Percy as hard as you can in the stomach."

"Uh, Thal, that's not a good idea. What if it ricochets and cuts him?"

"Eh, you'll be fine, Hadrian. Don't listen to Nico. See, Percy takes baths everyday and makes sure to clean himself everywhere. Because of that, he is invincible, meaning he can't get hurt, and girls like him for smelling good." Thalia shot Nico a look that said 'See? I've got a plan."

"Ew! Girls!"

"Ew! Hadrian's stink!" Nico mimicked, sticking out his tongue.

"Not funny! I took a bath Thursday!"

"Hadrian...it's Monday." Thalia quickly took out some AXE from Nico's bag and sprayed it all over the child. He, to this day, smells like a French hooker.

"All right, guys, come on, we gotta go!" Nico pushed the cart out into the hall, almost waking Truffles. _Note to self: Waking a cranky boar in a hotel of mortals is not a good idea...again. Even if it was the best prank the Stolls and I ever played._

"He's right. Come on, Hadrian!" And so, they checked out and made their way across the nation, using up three days, Nico's last nerve, and the phrases 'Pull over I have to pee', 'Are we there yet?', and, my favorite 'Watch out! There's some dracanae!". After their tiresome adventure, they found themselves on Annabeth's front door. The newly weds thought it was easier to live their until they could find a real house for the two of them.

"Ready to Rock and Roll?" Nico asked, jamming on an air guitar. Hadrian shook his head, Nico's aviator glasses nearly falling off of his face. He mimicked Nico, putting a bit more energy into it. Then, he suddenly stopped and became sad.

"What's wrong? Is it Truffles?" Thalia asked, reliving the experience. _The kid had better have some emotional discomfort. It was a pain in the ass to get that pig out the car. And then at that, Nico let the boy steal us some gummy worms...which, albeit, were delicious._

"Yeah. I don't like Washington B.C. any more." The five year old nodded glumly.

"A, it's Washington _D.C._ B. Truffles made his own decision to leave. But, don't worry, we'll try to find him." Nico reassured him.

"Now, you remember the plan, right?" Thalia asked. The boy reached out, politley rang the door bell, then stood there for a moment. As soon as they heard people moving, they straightened their clothes out. Then, threw their belongings in the bushes, and ran like hell was on Earth. Percy came out, clearly confused, and looked around for a moment. Nico jumped out of the bushes first, throwing a shadow in Percy's face. Percy nimbly dodged it and uncapped Riptide, planting the edge on Nico's throat and waiting as the pen expanded to full length.

"Nico? Thalia? I thought you were supposed to be here in an hour?"

"We made good time." Hadrian waltzed right past Percy, entering the home. Nico just shook his head, murmuring something about manners and grabbed their luggage from the bushes. Thalia walked in, giving her cousin a quick kiss on the cheek. Percy blushed for a moment, then made way for Nico. The son of Hades nodded and followed Thalia, ever so gracefully dumping their things on the floor in front of the TV, which, thanks to Hadrian went from Supernatural to Scooby-Doo in less than two seconds.

"So...how's it going?" Percy asked as he listened to Annabeth stomp around as she tried to get dressed.

"Fine." Hadrian nodded his head. Nico and Thalia shot him looks that said 'We have no nerves left, he stepped on the last one and fell'. Yeah, those cousins just have that kind of bond.

"Okay then. And, I take it you're Hadrian?" Percy asked, plopping down by the boy on the couch.

"Yep. And, you're Seaweed Brain?"

"I prefer Percy."

"Do you really have a pen that turns into a sword?"

"Yeah, I think you just saw it."

"Oh. Is your dad really the god of the seas?"

"Yep, it's pretty cool. I can't drown, I can control salt water, it heals me."

"...Is your head really full of kelp?" Just as Hadrian said that, Annabeth walked into the room in her orange Camp Half-blood shirt and some jeans. The teens stared at her for a moment, trying to figure out what was going on.

"What? A, they only let you in to The Market if they know you're a half blood, and B, he needs to start getting used to seeing these." Annabeth pointed to her shirt. Unfortunately, it was slightly too small, so Percy was boring a hole through her chest with his laser eyes.

"Perseus!" Thalia muttered, snapping him out of his state.

"I can only guess what you two where doing..." Nico began, shaking his head.

"Oh, whatever, creeper. Thalia told me all about Mini Me." Nico blushed at Annabeth and decided not to look Thalia in the eye for an hour or two.

"Well, we have things to do, monsters to mash, creatures to kidnap." Thalia began, standing up and walking towards the door.

"Oh, when will you be back?" Percy asked, currently letting Hadrian stab his hand. It didn't hurt or do any damage, but it was good practice for the child to learn the feel of a knife. Plus, Percy liked the really confused look on his face.

"About seven." Nico called.

"Tonight?"

"No, dude, tomorrow morning. It's a long way to D.C., even by shadow travel." And with that, he and Thalia vanished into the door. Percy sat there for a moment, looking Hadrian up and down.

"Hi, I'm Annabeth. What's your name?" She asked Hadrian as she sat down by Percy.

"Hadrian. Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, sweetie. Shoot."

"Thalia told me that taking a bath made Percy this invisiblible."

"Invincible, but yes?"

"What bubble bath does Percy's mommy buy him?" Percy tried very hard not to laugh at the serious look in Hadrian's and Annabeth's faces.

"It used to be Mr. Bubble, but then he got too old."

"Hey! I like Mr. Bubble. Don't diss him."

"Does Mr. Bubble work at the Market?"

"Yes he does! Right, Percy?"

"Oh, yeah. He's all about bath time. In fact, after a quick lunch of pizza, we can go to the Market. Something tells me that that little pouch of yours is just dying to be emptied."

"No, I don't have to pay for stuff." Hadrian said, nodding his head like he was trying to explain geometry to a cat. ((Been there, done that XD))

"Yes, you do here, Hadrian." Annabeth corrected him.

"Why?"

"First, because stealing is bad. Second, the last time someone stole from this place, can you guess what he got turned into?"

"A bubble?"

"No, he got turned into a pile of ashes. See, the Market is a place where you can buy anything our little demigod hearts desire. Greek versions of any book, which makes it easier to read, any kind of weapon, candy, musical instruments, you name it, it's there, but magically enhanced just for us." Percy bobbed his head like a George W. Bush bobblehead. ((BTW, recently found out that Green Day wrote American Idiot specifically for his re-election. So, how the HELL DID HE WIN?))

"Cool! But, I've got another question."

"What?"

"Where's the bathroom?"

"You gotta go potty?" Annabeth asked, an odd gleam in her eyes. This little guy reminded her of what she imagined her brothers would be, if they were half bloods.

"No, I wanna go take a bath and use Percy's Mr. Bubble."

"Hurry up, the cops are catching up! Oh, no! They've got us!" Percy and Hadrian sat in his Mustang, pretending to play Cops and Robbers.

"You'll never take me alive! I will get my daddy on you!" Hadrian laughed as Percy tickled him to death. ((It can happen!))

"Okay, you guys. Enough playing around. I've got our transportation." Annabeth pointed to the ferry heading to the Statue of Liberty. What are they doing at the Statue of Liberty, you may ask? The flame she holds isn't what we say it is. It's actually Hephaestues's way of transporting people to the Market. It used to be hight atop the Twin Towers, and you would reach it the same way you would Olympus. Bribe the idiot at the front desk. But, thanks to a bunch of monsters ((not Middle Easterns)) the Twin Towers were destroyed. But, that didn't destroy the Market, like they wanted to. Now, Hephaestus changed it so that, if you drew the Omega symbol anywhere on the Statue of Liberty's torch, you would be transported into the Market. Yeah, it was more of a hassle, but how many monsters would really go through the trouble to climb all the way up there, infiltrate the Market, and then get their butts handed to them by ADHD and dyslexic kids? I thought so. And, so, here they were, taking a ferry across the water to one of America's national treasures. Let's just hope Nicholas Cage doesn't try to steal that.


	6. Chapter 6: The Market

((Last chapter was kind of...a filler chapter. But, now this should be a little interesting...if not REALLY stupid. I don't own PJATO or any of it's characters. If I did, I would have made Travis and Connor go skydiving naked. Why? Because, they would do it.))

"Are we there yet?" The immature one asked Annabeth. He crossed his arms and looked across the water, wondering how much pollution is in there.

"Not yet, Percy. Just do like Hadrian and be quiet."

"Um...he kinda passed out."

"What? How!"

"He fell. On my arm. And busted his head. Don't worry, I gave him some nectar. He's sleeping it off."

"That was kind of responsible. We may have to go do something later." Annabeth winked.

"Good, I think I may want to do that, too." Percy nodded his head and winked back.

"So...how are we going to do it?"

"...There's more than one way to ride a go-cart at Adventureland?"

"Yes, Seaweed Brain, that is exactly what I was talking about. Oh, look. We're here." After about ten agonizing minutes of climbing up the inside of the Statue of Liberty, Hadrian woke up. Of course, by that time, Percy and Annabeth were panting and leaning against the torch for support.

"So...how do we get in?" Hadrian asked, throwing his shoe at it.

"No. You do this." Percy took his finger and traced an omega symbol in the dust ((Well, I guess it's dusty up there! Would YOU like to be the guy who has to do that every day?)) A bright light enveloped them, then shot off towards Ground Zero. They stopped in the clouds above, materializing on a roadway sitting in the balls of vapor.

"Wow! We're on the clouds!" Hadrian looked down, trying to see if he could see Percy's house. _OOH! A Chuckie Cheese's! I'll need a screwdriver, a bag of marbles, and some balogna._ Hadrian was snapped out of his thoughts as Percy picked him up and set him on his shoulder's. They walked towards a giant golden gate, two guards watching them carefully. They opened the door after a moment of looking at them, then bowed slightly. The trio walked into the Market, hearing the gates shut behind them.

"Whoa." Hadrian breathed. Every where he looked, there were stands, rides, business signs, ads. The streets were decorated like everyday was a holiday, with bright colored wreaths hanging from goblets of fire, colorful ribbons floating in mid-air and swinging down to the pavement. He looked to the left, spotting a booth selling magic candy. One of the demigods there walked off contently, popping a jelly bean into his mouth. A moment later, he was breathing fire like a dragon. The pavement shimmered as they reflected the flames. Hadrian crawled down off of Percy and tried to get a better look at it.

"Solid gold." Percy wiggled his eyebrows.

"Can we take some?" Hadrian asked excitedly, already trying to pull out a brick.

"No, we can't. This is kind of a special place. It would be wrong. Unless, of course, you want to spend the rest of your life as something like a pile of ashes or a frog." At the word frog, Hadrian immediately bent down and tried to pull out the bricks.

"You want to be a pile of ashes?"

"No, but frogs are-Cool!" Hadrian said as he spotted a weapons stand. He ran to it, seeing all sorts of swords, bows, arrows, staffs, any kind of weapon you could think of. The merchant sitting there regarded him curiously, then looked over to Percy and Annabeth. Hadrian stood on his tip toes and looked over the table, immediately spotting a jar of ever changing green light.

"Greek fire. Very powerful stuff. Can't be put out by water, can't be blown out. Just toss it and hope you don't get caught in the rubble." The merchant told Hadrian, noticing the boy's interest.

"You mean it explodeds?"

"Explodeds? Sure, it explodes." Percy picked up the jar, tossing it from hand to hand. Hadrian grabbed it out of Percy's hands and set it back on the table. Annabeth slapped Percy's fingers, tutting him.

"So, what do you see that you like?" The merchant asked, running his hand over the table. The weapons seemed to gleam brightly as he passed his hand over them. Hadrian pointed to a knife at the other end of the table, nearest Annabeth. She shook her head, smiling.

"Thanks anyways, sir. But, I don't think he'll need a weapon any time soon." She laughed, putting her hand over Hadrian's mouth as he was about to protest.

"I understand. All right, be on your way then." The merchant winked at Hadrian and pointed a few booths down, to a bright green stand. The boy ran off, almost leaving his guardians in the dust. Hadrian stopped as he neared the stand, letting Percy get behind him. The merchant here was wearing a clown suit, tossing all sorts of toys between his hands. He clapped his hands together, making them disappear. Then, he waved his hands over the table, making them reappear standing up.

"What are these?"

"Figurines, my boy. From different shows on Hephaestus-TV. Of course, I have other wares. Candy, entertainment, I think I still have a few automaton pets in the back." The clown laughed, looking deeply into his sleeve. Percy looked over the figurines quizically, as if trying to decide whether or not he would want one.

"What kind of entertainment?" Hadrian asked fingering a drachma in his pocket.

"All kinds. Mortal objects, like DVDs, MP3 Players, you name it. A few enhancements have been made."

"Like what?"

"Well, with mortal DVDs, you need a DVD player. With these, you just throw it in the air and sit back. They expand into pre-programmed TVs, any size you want."

"Cool! What's an automaton?"

"Think of a little robot."

"Cool! Do you have a puppy? What about a tiger? No! Wait, I bet you have a penguin somewhere!"

"Whoa, slow down, child. Let's talk to mommy and daddy first." The clown looked at Percy and Annabeth expectantly.

"No, we're not-Um. we're just baby sitting." Annabeth flushed a deep red.

"Oh, okay."

"Actually, do you have any prank supplies? Like invisible silly string, flaming gumballs, that sort of thing?" Percy asked, looking at Hadrian.

"Ah, campers, eh? Yeah, sure I do." The clown waved his hands, changing the figurines into different pranking supplies.

"Rule 1 of being in the Hermes cabin: Any pranks go." Percy told Hadrian.

"Percy. You know that's not true. Rule 1 is birds of a feather stick together. Especially when those birds are the biggest bunch of thieves in camp." Thunder rumbled in the distance as Annabeth spoke. "Which, to you, Lord Hermes, is a great sign!" The thunder seceded after a moment.

"What's that?" Hadrian asked, pointing to a stack of rolled up silver paper.

"These, are our version of a magic wand. You see, mortals use rolled up paper colored on each end to be magic wands. When the paper is rolled up and put inside a ring, it get's springy. Then, when they take off the ring and throw it in the air, it pops out full size. These, have the same effect, except they are swords." The clown tossed one in the air, nimbly catching the hollow sword that fell.

"Great fun during capture the flag or sparring practice." Percy waggled his eyebrows.

"What's that?" Hadrian took a small bag off of the table and looked inside.

"Greek fire beads. You throw one on the ground and it has a smaller effect of greek fire. I have some candies around here somewhere that have the same effect, but to get rid of the spicy taste, you have to eat grass."

"Why grass?"

"It just looks funny is all, kid."

"Oh."

"Yeah. I've also got some itching powder, some centaur's blood, monster calls, fireball shooting pens, marshmallows that taste like spinach."

"Ew."

"Yeah, and I had to taste test them." The clown laughed. He pulled a sack out of his arm, placing the marshmallows on the table.

"See, Hadrian, we can find pretty much anything here. Now, I'm going to buy you three things from here. The first, is that bag of marshmallows. Trust me, you'll need them to survive. Second, a fire ball pen, third, a bag of greek fire marbles, and maybe some candy. But, afterwards, you have to promise that we'll go looking for a shield and do some fitting for armor, m'kay?"

"Sure. Can we do something else on the way there, though?"

"What?"

"Can we go visit Mr. Bubble's tent? You're out of bath soap."

Meanwhile, in D.C., Thalia and Nico were deep on the trail of the boar.

"Now, remind me again why you have a tranquilizer gun?" Nico asked, noticing the object in Thalia's hand.

"Let's just say that five year olds and road trips don't mix well for me." Thalia whispered. They walked along for a while, then stopped, reading the tracks in the dirt.

"Okay, Nico. Don't panic, but he's about five feet away from us, in that bush."

"Wow, you can tell that from the tracks?"

"Yeah. Plus, he's looking at us." The boar squealed and charged, almost impaling Nico on it's tusks. He rolled out of the way as the boar came back around for a second try. He took his sword out and slashed, cutting off a tusk. The boar veered left, away from Nico, and right into Thalia's line of fire. The dart soared through the air silently, impaling itself into the creatures thick skin.

"How much tranquilizer is in there?" Nico called to Thalia.

"None, I put Greek fire in it!" She yelled back, running away from the beast. Nico cursed and threw his knife into the boar's side before joining her. A moment later, it exploded, sending flame and golden dust everywhere. Nico and Thalia fell to the ground, trying to avoid the flames.

"How do people not flinch when that happens in movies, but we got tossed aside like ragdolls?" Thalia glowered.

"Relax. We got rid of the boar. Took all day to find it though. I wonder if Hadrian's driven Percy off the edge yet."

"Yeah. Let's go back and find out."

((Okay, I lied. It's not that interesting. But, it does tell you where Hadrian gets his prank supplies for later chapters, and his shield.))


	7. Chapter 7: Target is Fun!

((Don't own PJATO...and had a bad day at school! I didn't wear my super awesome smiley faced PJs for PJ day, and now my schedule is all messed up, and I fell. Over Air!))

"Heelys!" Hadrian yelled as Percy pushed him around the outside of a Target. They had obtained said Heelys at the Market, after they spent a ton of drachma on a shield that turns into a lion silly band (even though Hadrian specifically requested a dragon), some armor, and the required pranking supplies that Travis and Connor make campers buy ((what, you think they BUY all their own stuff? Psh..silly reader people), plus a few personal pranks. They stood outside the Target as Annabeth went food shopping. Percy pushed Hadrian harder, making him shoot down the street. He jumped, nimbly landing on one of the big red balls Target has sitting outside their stores. He skipped off of it, hitting the next balls like a skipping stone across the water.

"See? You never fell! I told you that guy was telling the truth."

"Magic is fun! Can we play with your pen now?"

"No, we can't. I might hurt you...but...we can play with some mortals...if we sneak in side." Percy waggled his eyebrows and picked up the boy, putting him over his shoulder like a sack of toys. At this point, you're probably wondering where Nico and Thalia are. Current position: a D.C. police station. Being interrogated. Under the charges of smuggling rare African animals, such as the 'rare South African Elephant' they had blown into ashes with 'a sleek, high tech grenade launcher'. The interrogators have minimal mental scars, and will make a full come back in ten years...maybe.

"We're in." Hadrian said from over Percy's shoulder.

"Yes, I see that. Now, what ever we do, we can't get distracted, cause if Annabeth caught us in here we'd be dea- OMG AN ICEE MACHINE!" Hadrian reached up and slapped Percy in the back of the head, tutting lightly.

"We need to stay focused! We'll never find the Spiderman toys at this rate!" Hadrian grabbed Percy's ears, steering him down the toy aisle. For a dyslexic five year old, he read the signs amazingly well. Percy simply played along, making motorcycle noises. They arrived at the toy aisle, and in moments, where gear up with marbles, bouncy balls, a Nerf sword, a magic sword ((WOOT! RIPTIDE!)), and about three tons of silly string. Oh, 2 bright green bikes. Don't ask why.

"Okay...what do you want to do first?" Hadrian asked Percy, juggling some bouncy balls in his hands. _Maybe I shouldn't be teaching him these kinds of things. Messing with mortals doesn't exactly put you on Santa's Good List...but...on the other hand...the way Annabeth shops, we have a good hour._

"First, let's go get a can of tomato soup. And a helmet." Percy took a helmet from the bike gear as they passed, cracking it against the floor. He put it on Hadrian's head and ran into the soup aisle. He cut a hole in a can and poured some of the contents onto the helmet.

"Ew. Are you sure I won't get that in my hair?" Hadrian asked.

"Yeah, now, let's get some red dye, a thing of biscuits, and head back to the bikes." They did so and positioned themselves correctly. A moment later, Percy screamed, drawing the attention of a nearby employee. He ran over, horrified at the sight before him. A little boy lay passed out on the floor, his head bleeding and two bikes crashed off to the side.

"What happened?" The man asked as Percy picked up Hadrian's head and cried.

"We-We were s-shop-shopping for his fir-first bi-b-bike! I told him to try it out, but he went too fast and crashed i-into the other bike we had picked out. He flew into the wall, bounced off his hea-head, and landed here."

"I'll call an ambulance."

"No, it-it's too late. I can't find his pulse." Percy poured on the tears now, trying to make it more believable. Hadrain was biting his tongue extremely hard as he tried to look...well, dead.

"So, maybe they can revive him!"

"I'm a registered nurse. He hasn't had a pulse since I yelled. I was trying CPR, but..." Percy placed Hadrian down carefully, making it look as if he really cared for the little child.

"I have to call the ambulance, it's protocol."

"Then, call it. Let's go." As they were walking away, they heard some moaning. Hadrian stood up and undid his helmet, only to fall to his knees in front of the worker.

"Jesus!" The man looked as Hadrian's helmet rolled away, revealing his brain.

"Holy crap! He's a zombie! Run, man, run!" Percy yelled, pushing the man away. The man, under all the stress, took off towards an emergency exit.

"Hey, Hadrian?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you going to eat my brain?"

"No, Seaweed Brain?"

"Thanks, Biscuit Head." Percy took the ball of biscuit brains and threw it three aisles over, scaring the crap out of some unfortunate shopper. They went down a few aisles, then attacked again. Percy took Riptide and attacked, acting like a crazy druggy.

"Get the hell away from me, Mario! I told you, I've had enough of your mushrooms!" He yelled, slicing a toaster in half with what the shopper believed was a crow bar. Percy hit him over the head with it, watching as the mortal's eyes closed in anticipation, then took off to the next aisle where Hadrian was trying hard not to giggle.

"Now what?" The boy asked, skating around on his Heelys.

"I don't know. We can't do quite a few off them, since they aren't exactly age appropriate. We could do this..." They quickly pitched a tent in the middle of the alarm clocks, setting them all to go off at one time. Percy had managed to steal someone's uniform and offered parents 'complimentary shopper babysitting'. Of course, many parents took the offer and left their pride and joys in Percy's ''capable hands''. Percy began telling a ghost story of a man who killed little children who were bad in department stores.

"They say, that, when he comes, all electronics around you malfunction."

"What's malfudtion?" One girl asked, fear in her eyes.

"It's when something doesn't work right."

"My mommy says my daddy's beanies and weenie malfudtion." The girl nodded, as if the answer satisfied her.

"Well, that's wonder, Mary. Now, as I was saying, the electronics malfunction, lights go off, and after a few seconds of chaos and screams, he attacks. So, if the power goes out while you're in a store, don't scre-" The electronic timer Percy had set up in the manager's office went off, killing the lights. Children screamed loudly as all the alarms went off.

"Hush! Hush!" Hadrain ordered, flicking on the flashlight and putting it next to the fake camp fire they had in the tent.

"I'll go check it out." Percy nodded, slipping backwards through the tent's zipper. "Zip it up, just in case." The children obeyed him. After a moment of Percy walking in front of the tent with Hadrian's flashlight reflecting his shadow on the tent. A hand appeared out of nowhere, choking Percy's shadow. He had to concentrate and think of the angle, so they kids didn't see his own arm choking him The explanations on that one. Suddenly, he fell to the ground in an apparent dead heap.

"Oh my Gosh! He killed Pewcy!" A child screamed, causing the others to. Percy crawled to the other side of the tent and stood their, grunting and moaning.

"He's...right...behind me!" Hadrian screamed, making the others do so. A hand ripped the tent apart, making it's way onto Hadrian's throat. A moment later, he 'died', making himself into a pile on the floor. The other children escaped the tent a moment before the lights came back on. By that time, Percy and Hadrian were back outside, waiting for Annabeth. She came out of the store, with a weird look on her face.

"Were you guys in there?"

"No, why?" Percy asked innocently.

"The power went out and some chidren screamed."

"Please, it's New York. All kinds of weird stuff happens."

"True. So, you guys have any fun conversations while I was gone?"

"Tons." Hadrian gave Percy a wink. The moment lasted for a moment, but then was ruined by Annabeth.

"Who wants to help me load the car?"

"Aw."

"Shit!"

"Hadrian!" Annabeth and Percy scolded.

"...Annabeth!"

"Percy!"

"...Why did you just say your own name?"

"Well, he said your name and I didn't want to be left out."

"I bought candy corn." The cart was unpacked in an instant.


	8. Chapter 8: 2012

((Black, it's not about how many readers or reviewers I have. It's how much I like sharing these stories. Sometimes, I just feel good writing this after a long day at school. But, tomorrow's Friday! Which, including PJATO, I don't own. Otherwise, it would be called 'GetYourPartyOnDay.' Not too good of a name, huh?))

"You guys went to Target?" Thalia asked as she sat in Annabeth's living room, watching Nico make rocks float for Hadrian, who would push them around the room.

"Yeah, is there a problem with that?" Annabeth tilted her head to the side.

"No, none at all. Hadrian?"

"Hmm?"

"Go bring me your suitcase, and empty your pockets."

"But, Dalia!"

"Now, please." As the boy scampered off to the guest room, Nico turned towards Annabeth and Percy.

"Thanks for watching him for us. Is there anything we can do for you?"

"Well, Nico, there is one thing...but, it's kind of odd."

"What?" Annabeth asked Percy, apparently not liking the idea.

"We can't seem to do it, so why shouldn't they?"

"Do what?" Thalia asked, her electric blue eyes glaring at him.

"...Go get changed and I'll go grab the camera." Five minutes later...

"Aw, you dirty little hoe! Look what you did! Clean it up, come on, now!" Nico yelled to his hoe, who stood silently by the wall.

"I said now! Get down here!" The hoe stood firm, refusing to move closer to Nico. The hoe's blue eyes shone brightly.

"Don't make me slap you." Nico threatened, raising his hand. Finally, the hoe fell in front of him, hitting his legs.

"Yeah, that's it."

"Nico! What did I tell you about yelling at my hoes?" Percy yelled into the camera.

"Percy, they've been teasing me and teasing me all day!"

"That's what they're supposed to do. Now, keep raking. Thalia's almost halfway done with the yard, and you're still on the flowerbed!" And with that, Percy marched back inside to play Uno with Hadrian.

"So...what did you find in our little trustee's suitcase?"

"Apparently, he got a pack of bubble gum, a spiderman foam shooter, some silly string, a Yu-Gi-Oh deck, and a DVD player out of that."

"How did he get all of that out of Target?"

"I dunno. He's a son of Hermes. They're infamous for their crafty ways. Which, again is a good thing. Means his legacy is alive and well." Thalia replied to the thunder overhead.

"I'm going to have to yell at him for it later."

"Now, now. We can't be too hard on him."

"Why not? We've tried to tell him repeatedly not to steal. As small as he is, he might get killed at camp for it someday."

"Nico, how many days are in a week?"

"Seven, right?"

"Right. And, how many have we used tracking down the boar?"

"One."

"And, how many to kill the boar and return here?"

"Two."

"One plus two is?"

"Three."

"And, seven minus three is?"

"Four, but what does that have to d- Oh, right. The prophecy." Nico's eyes turned an even darker shade as he turned to face the east.

"Right. So, counting today, we may only have four days to live."

"Then, we should make the best of them."

"What?"

"You heard me. Throw down the rake. Let's go out. Hit a club, go dancing, have dinner, something! We don't do enough couple like things, so why not start now, when we may not have another chance?"

"It's...just not what hero's do."

"Look at Jay Sean and Nicky Minaj. They wrote that song 2012, which is all about doing whatever you want together. Then, the end doesn't seem so bad."

"I guess you're right." A smile slowly crept its way onto Thalia's face, "and, we never really told Annabeth and Percy about the prophecy..."

"They don't need to know, yet. Let's just have fun tonight, then, later on, we sneak into the Bronx and steal back our Nemean Lion."

"I thought it was the Central Park Zoo?"

"Nope, turns out that the Bronx has three new lion cubs, one of which, will start growing exponentially in about...fourteen hours." Nico guessed.

"Wow. Lot of big words in there, professor. Sure you don't need to go study instead of going out?" Thalia threw the rake over her head, letting it fall into a tree. Nico did the same, the hoe landing in a pile of mud behind his feet.

"Let's go then."

"Where to?"

"Some place quiet first. Some where we both feel at ease." Nico grabbed her hand and bolted to the tree behind her, leaping into the shadows.

"Nico?"

"Yes?"

"Why are we in an empty gymnasium?"

"Because, in about five minutes, it won't be empty."

"Huh?"

"I found this place once when shadow traveling. This really good band plays here every other day. They don't really have any good, original songs yet, so they do things like Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Green Day, Linkin Park. They sound awesome, but they just need some help with making their own lyrics. I used to sneak out of camp with our kind of Apollo campers to see this."

"By our kind, do you mean the ones who should be older than they are, or have an interest in punk music?"

"Hey, don't forget the Beach Boys or The Beatles. They were awesome in my day."

"Okay, grandpa."

"If I'm a grandpa, does that make you a gold digger?"

"If I'm a gold digger, doesn't that make you my Sugar Daddy? And, I'm feelin a little low on sugar." Thalia's hand slipped towards Nico's wallet, only to have his lips intersect hers. And, yes, intersect, as in completely cut across each other. They stood there for a moment, just kissing, holding nothing but each other. Then, the door rattled and the dashed away behind the curtains on stage. After a moment, the band began to set themselves up on stage, paying Nico and Thalia no mind. After they got the instruments together, a teen with nothing in his hands walked up to them, his long hair almost diving into his eyes.

"Oh, you guys must be the fill ins. Great, which one of you plays bass?" Nico and Thalia looked at each other and shrugged.

"I do." Nico said, pointing to a black case that had appeared out of nowhere. Well, technically the ground, but still.

"Cool. And, you are?" _Let's see my options...say my real name and maybe get attacked by monsters, or just play it off. And not get any glory._

"Nico."

"All right, Nico. You must be the keyboard player. It's over there on the side. You're name is?"

"I'm Thalia."

"All right. First, we're going to start with something simple." A moment later, Nico was rocking out to Simple Plan's Jump, Shut up, and Me Against the World. _Thank the lords for magic bass guitars from Dad._ Nico thought. A few songs later, such as Animal I've become, American Idiot, and other sell outs, it was time to close up.

"All right, you guys are an awesome crowd, and we love doing this, but we gotta go! We'll do one last song though!" The music began again, this time playing In The End. _Okay, gotta remember. D# A# A# F# F F F F F# and repeat. Got it. _Thalia consoled herself. It had been years since the Apollo cabin taught her some piano, but this was the one she always remembered. They played the song through, getting a great reaction from the crowd, even though it was cliche. Nico and Thalia jumped out to surf the crowd, only to vanish into thin air as they hit the ground. They popped out a moment later in France, standing in the elevator in the Eifell Tower ((SCREW FRENCH SPELLING)).

"Di-Did you see the look on that guy's face when we jumped?" Nico rolled on the floor laughing.

"No, I'd say the girl who dropped you was more surprised! It was like 'Yes! I'm going to get the cute guy-OMG WHERE'D HE GO!'" Thalia pulled herself off of the ground, dusting off her pants.

"So...Paris." Nico said, not sure what to say now.

"Yep. Why here?"

"I don't know. I was just thinking of what we could do for our last date...ever."

"You make it sound like we might not live. Or break up." Thalia looked out over the city, taking an extra moment to look at the sky.

"Hey, we'e just here to have a good time. Now, come on, let's go get some dinner and skip on the bill. Sound like fun?" Nico asked, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her forehead.

"Yeah. But, get you're arms off me, unless you want to be a pile of ashes." Thunder rumbled in agreement, making Nico jump. After they got out of the Tower, they got dinner at a fancy restaurant, had everything on the menu, then waddled out like nothing ever happened. Of course, now they couldn't stay in France. So, Nico shadow-traveled to a secluded mountain, not even knowing which one. They walked for a while and spotted a river that lead down into a beautiful waterfall. They set up camp there, building a fire and laying side by side underneath the little hut they had made in a few minutes.

"How long have we been gone?"

"About...three hours."

"Think they've noticed we're gone yet?"

"Yeah. But, I'm sure that they just know when we run off. Probably how they found you in the Labyrinth." Nico shuddered at all the dark things he had seen during that adventure.

"This is nice." Nico said, looking into Thalia's electric blue eyes.

"Yeah. You're so cold though. It's like there isn't even a fire on your ar- NICO! YOU'RE ARM'S ON FIRE!" The boy took off his shirt and threw it in the water, then jumped in himself.

"What the heck are you doing! You're not on fire anymore!"

"I know! But, I like that shirt!"

"Get your butt back here, Di Angelo, or you're going to be visiting your dad really soon!" Thalia warned, pointing to the falls. Nico doggy paddled for his life, not wanting to be caught swimming. A voice sounded in his head, causing him to stop. _Um, what are you doing,, Di Angelo? _Poseidon's voice asked, slightly agitated.

"Oh, come on. I'm drowning here on probably my last date with Thalia ever, and you're asking what I'm doing?"

_Ah. Do you need some help?_

"Help? Won't you just try to drown me?"

_I prefer not to make my brother's mad. If I kill you, I break Thalia's heart. She's heartbroken, cries to Zeus, who gets mad at me. You're dead, Hades gets really mad, and I'm nothing but a pile of ashes. And, Perseus likes you and trusts you, so you must not be all bad. But, be warned, if I help you now, I can not do so later._

"So, it's either get help now and live, or don't and hope I live to see me die anyway?"

_Not exactly, but yes. All or nothing._

"...If I live, you'd better give me a life jacket for my birthday, and not another fossilized fish. They're starting to clutter up my wall." And so Nico took one for the team, swimming faster into the current, propelling him into the waterfall. A moment later, he felt an arm on his, making him look up. There was Thalia, a fierce look of determination on her face.

"Not going to go home without kissing me, are you?" Thalia asked. Nico grabbed her hand and shot a shadow at a rock, causing it to fall. As the boulder fell in front of them, Nico pictured Annabeth's house, and was shadow traveled there. They laid on the grass for a moment, not saying anything.

"Hey, how long does it take someone to be reincarnated?"

"About a year, why?"

"Because, if we'd have died back there, I'd have gone for the Isle, like Luke." Thalia took herself off the ground and stumbled towards the door.

"Thalia, wait." Nico sighed, getting up.

"What?" Thalia turned around, noticing a serious look on his face.

"I just wanted to-get the door for you." Nico opened the door, trying to paint a happy smile onto his face.

"Thanks?" Thalia walked in, only to be hug-tackled by Hadrian.

_Look at them. It's no wonder why they like each other so much. And, why Luke's soul left the Underworld five years ago._


	9. Chapter 9: Longest chapter evah

((Too tired from tests this week to actually post something...so here I go! Pushing my brain to the limit! And probably not coming up with anything! I don't own PJATO or anything but Hadrian. My wittle cuddle buddy. No homo. Oh, and please check the bottom of my profile page, I've added something cool.))

"Hadrian, wake up." Thalia shook the boy gently, thinking of what would happen to him if she had let Nico go down that waterfall alone.

"hm.."

"Hadrian, wakey wakey, it's time to go steal a lion."

"Five more minutes, Mommy." Hadrian curled back under the blankets on Annabeth's bed (Athena suggested/forced the idea that Percy and Annabeth sleep in seperate rooms until the were married for a year), leaving Thalia stunned.

"Aw. Does that make Nico daddy?" Annabeth laughed, taking the blankets off the bed.

"Just help me get him out of here. We need to take a tour of the zoo." Thalia's face was getting redder by the moment.

"Zoo? We're going to the zoo? Percy! Percy! Where's my Mr. Bubble? I'm going to the zoo!" The demigod shot out of the bed and raced through the room, almost running into the door. A moment later, they could hear the bathtub start and Percy telling Hadrian when enough bubbles was enough. Nico walked in, slightly dazed and looked at Thalia.

"What?" Thalia asked, still stunned that Hadrian had called her Mommy.

"Nothing. I'm just glad we're safe." Nico lied. _And I'm pissed that I can't tell her._

"Well, sorry to ruin things for you, but you two need to get showered and changed. Thalia, you can use the shower in the bathroom through there." Annabeth pointed to a door on the side of her room.

"I'll wait till Hadrian's done to get one." Nico suggested, taking a certain interest in his shoes.

"All right. But, be warned," Annabeth started creepily, "Mr. Bubble has hypnotic powers. One pop is enough to send you into the depths of his devious power."

"Then...I'll wait till Thalia's done. And, I'll kill Mr. Bubble." And with that, the King of Ghosts walked out, leaving Annabeth to think of how he would accomplish such a feat. Two hours and a lot of Hadrian's rants about bubbles and how stupid using a comb was, they were ready. They said their good-byes to Annabeth and Percy, packed up their belongings, and headed to the Bronx.

"All right. We've got...two hours until the lion grows and four hours before the zoo closes. What will we do?" Nico asked from the driver's seat of his Spyder.

"First, we take the tour. Find out where everything is. That'll take...an hour. We'll do some practice runs in the park, which will take about an hour and a half. Then, with the last hour and a half, we'll grab a bite to eat and make our way back to the zoo." Thalia decided quickly. Hadrian sat quietly in the back seat, playing with his newly acquired DVD player. Transformers 2 opened his eyes to the wonders of giant robots. And, that Italian sasuage makers are insane and like to get tazed. The time flew by as they drove, making it withing the time limit and even finding a good parking space. The trio hopped out of the car, bought their tickets, and slipped inside. Hadrian looked around for a moment, then did the most predictable thing a five year old can do.

"TOYS!" He yelled, running to the gift shop. Just then, a deeply tanned man walked out, almost knocking Hadrian to the ground. He quickly caught the little guy and placed him on the ground, giving him a reassuring smile. Thalia and Nico rushed over, each making a move towards their weapon.

"Sorry, little fella." The man said with a slight Brazilian accent.

"I'm okay. It's fine." Hadrian shrugged, taking a step back towards Nico and Thalia. Another thing he had learned from Transformers movies: Guys with weird voices usually want to kill Optimus prime, and Hadrian loved that action figure in his suitcase.

"I'm very sorry," The man shook Nico's hand, "I didn't see your...little brother?"

"Yes. Hadrian here is my little brother." _Well...Dad was in charge of his reincarnation...so...it's kinda like he is, on a spiritual level._ Nico mused.

"So, this beautiful girl here is your sister?" Thalia giggled girlishly at this, attracting both Nico's and Hadrian's attention.

"No, that's his girlfriend, Thalia." Hadrian said slowly, as if just now wrapping his mind around the idea.

"And, who might you be?" Nico asked, forming a shadow on his finger tip behind his back.

"Oh, how rude of me. I am Pedro. I do odd jobs around here as volunteer work. Painting, plumbing, tours, things like that. I could give you a tour, if you'd like." Pedro was facing Nico, yet his eyes were glued to Thalia, who giggled again, turning redder than Ares when he drank hot sauce as a dare from Apollo.

"That would be cool!" Hadrian's eyes lit up as he remembered the plan.

"And, where would you like to start? The flamingos, perhaps?" Pedro did a little dance, wiggling his eyebrows at Thalia.

"Actually, we're here because Hadrian has a report due on African _mammals_ in two days, and we don't really like to wait till the very last minute." Nico snapped his fingers, drawing Pedro's attention back to him.

"Of course. Let's start with the lions."

"Cool! Lions are my favorite animals! This silly band is a lion!" Hadrian was about to take it off and show Pedro, but then remembered that it changed into a shield and decided not to.

"Great. Let's get started." And so, they made their way through different sections of the zoo, hearing all kinda of animal calls and fun facts from Pedro about the animals. Thalia, like the teenage girl she was, laughed at all of the muscled tan foreigner's jokes.

"Pedrophile." Nico muttered under his breath. Thalia reached over and poked his arms.

"And this is the... Nico, where did your eyebrows go?" Pedro asked as they approached the lions.

"Oh...um..those were false eyebrows, because...I had to design an experiment for chemistry yesterday, but someone messed with it and it singed off my eyebrows?" Nico turned towards the professional liar, who shook his little head.

"He was doing the Mesla boil thing but some mean person took a screw off of my brother's project so it hit him in the face! It's all over youboob." Hadrian smiled innocently at his statement, as if he didn't know that it's youtube and that he had just called Pedro a boob.

"Tesla Coil? Very nice...and, I believe you mean Youtube."

"Yeah, it worked perfectly at home. Now, where are the lions?" Thalia took off her black jacket, revealing a form fitting tank top. Pedro gulped and looked away.

"Ah, here they are, all three of the new cubs. And, wow, that one has grown in size."

"I'll say." Thalia said, her eyes travelling to Pedro's pants. Nico's phone went off, only to find it was Thalia texting him. _Nico, we need to get Dalia out of here! Pedro's weird._ Nico threw a dirty look to Hadrian, who was now playing brickbreaker on the Blackberry and trying hard not to smile.

"That was my mom. We have to leave, my father was in some sort of accident a few streets away." Nico said, putting on his best disbelief face. _Geeze, no wonder so many actors are Aphrodite's kids. We have to lie so much, our acting skills shoot through the roof._

"Oh, I am sorry, my friends. Please, go to your father. And, if you need my help with any other...projects, give me a call." Pedro turned back around and handed a small white card to Thalia. Who, by that time, was already being dragged away by Nico and Hadrian. They went to the park and practiced for a while, trying to get Thalia to snap out of her daze. Finally, they just gave up and hit a Mellow Mushroom, towing her along.

"That Pedro guy was weird." Hadrian complained between bites of pizza.

"Yeah." _Hitting on my girl. I'll teach him, someday._

"He talked funny."

"That's an accent, Hadrian. A charming accent." Thalia sighed. Both boys recoiled, having never seen Thalia under any man's charm.

"No, I mean, he talked too heavily to be Brazilian. I've met a few Brazilians cuz of mommy's job. He made too many sounds during his speech." Hadrian's eyes darted from side to side before he softly spoke again "I think he might have been a monster."

"Really?" Nico asked, instantly thinking of the perfect revenge.

"Yeah. And, the way he knew everything about the animals! Like, the hippopata-hippopotais-hippo." Hadrian decided after a moment.

"Huh...interesting. Anyway, while Thalia here is off in La La land, let's dig in." After finishing their meals, going through one more run-through of their plan, they changed into their work they arrived at the zoo, the guards were just locking up. They sat in shadows for a moment, all dressed in black. They saw the last guard leave, then jumped the gate. Well, Thalia and Nico climbed up the gate. Nico had to lift a large chunk of earth out of the ground and into the sky to get Hadrian safely over. They made their way to the lions, only stopping to pillage a snow cone stand. Thalia and Nico where arguing about the best flavor, when Hadrian suddenly threw his silly band-shield into the air, catching it coolly.

"What's up?" Nico asked, taking his Stygian iron sword out of the ground. He tapped the Hematite ring Thalia had given him and it expanded into a shield ((This may seem weird, but on Wikipedia it says he might be able to do the whole geokinesis thing, so why not be able to increase their size as well?)) with a skull carved into it. Thalia tapped her bracelet and took out her spear, now on high alert.

"There's a squirrel." Hadrian whispered, making the others do a sweatdrop type movement.

"Okay? It's a zoo, there are tons of squirrels." Thalia chided, about to put her shield back.

"No, I mean the cage the lions were in is empty. There's only a squirrel." Hadrian looked around for a moment, before he had to duck behind his shield to avoid giant claws rushing towards him. Hadrian quickly laid down, curling up under the shield. The Nemean Lion roared in anger, now four feet tall on all fours, and turned towards Nico. The demigod took a knife out of his pocket and slid it under the shield as he ran past, striking his sword against the Nemean Lion's impenetrable hide. Thalia shot lightning bolt after lightning bolt at the beast, not finding any result.

"Eight freaking years! I can't remember a thing about how Percy killed it!" Thalia roared in anger, sending a lightning bolt off it's path and into a wall. Or, what appeared to be a wall. A man walked out of the shadows, groaning slightly.

"Pedro." Nico said, butting the Nemean Lion over the head with his shield.

"Please, call me by my middle name, Chrysaor."

"Brother of Pegasus, born of Medusa's blood Chrysaor?" Thalia asked quietly.

"Yes, my dear." The accent was gone now, replaced by an edgy calm in his voice.

"Oh, yeah. The fat boar guy." Hadrian laughed from under his shield. Chrysaor punched the ground and roared, the sound filling the air around them. Greek fire rose in a ring around them, blocking their escape. Hadrian clambered out from under his shield, only to dodge the Lion's fangs.

"Oh, I remember now. Percy told me this story earlier!" Hadrian cried, now playing Limbo with its muzzle.

"My story?" Chrysaor asked hopefully, his eyes almost turning to puppy like proportions.

"No, how he killed this guy."

"You see, this is why I don't like demigods. Well, except my friends." He snapped his fingers and pointed to the cage. Smoke filled it, blocking their view. When it cleared, two boys and a girl stood together in a phalanx formation, each sporting a black helmet.

"Hired help? I thought you did all the work around here." Nico teased, throwing a shadow at Chrysaor, who simply moved out of the way. He snapped his fingers again and the cage disappeared. The smaller of the three ran fowards, aiming his bow at Hadrian. Hadrian threw his knife at the boy with amazing accuracy, splitting the bow string in half and embedding the knife in a crack in the armor. The warrior fell down, blood seeping out of his wound.

"Alex! You'll pay for that! Seth, get 'em!" The girl threw a knife into the air, making the boy behind her, Seth, jump into the air, catch it, and spiral down towards Hadrian. Nico jumped into his path, feeling rather odd. Time began to slow, his legs felt like Jello.

_No! It can't be!_ Nico thought as the knife clashed against his slowed body. A huge gash appeared across his cheek, sending blood down his shirt. The spell ended, leaving NIco feeling drained.

"Oh, I forgot to mention. Alicia and Alex are children of Hecate, and Seth here is one of three demigod sons of Kronos."

"Kronos had sons?" Thalia was angry now, imagining Luke lying in bed with some random woman.

"Oh, yes. The Titan lord spent quite a long time rediscovering himself, and adjusting to his new body. And, apparently, he has a very strong libido." Chrysaor strolled calmly towards Thalia, who shot a huge bolt of lightning at him. He was thrown into the fire, but bounced back off of some invisible wall. He stood back up and smiled, spitting out blood.

"Kill them." He told Seth, who nodded and began to cackle evilly. Hadrian appeared out of nowhere with Alex's sword raised above his head. Nico tried to grab him, but the Nemean Lion jumped between the two of them, staring Nico down. They stood there for a moment, having a staring contest. Thalia shot a thunderbolt at Alicia, who began volleying fireballs. Hadrian threw the sword at Seth, who easily side stepped it and smiled down at the boy. He hid under his shield, only to have it picked up from above him. And, picked him up with him. Then, Hadrian's face looked puzzled.

"Wait. Hold everything!" And, oddly enough, everything stopped.

"What now?" Chrysaor said, leaning against the wall with a bag of popcorn.

"How is Seth so old?"

"Oh, magic. Accelerated his age."

"Master Chrysaor, should you really be telling them all this?" Alicia complained, dropping the fireball in her hand.

"Please, you and Seth are more than a match for these buffoons. And, the child is young, he deserves to know a few things before he dies." And after that, the fighting began again. Thalia took her spear out and began hitting the fireballs like baseballs, one landing in Chrysaor's popcorn. He balled it up and threw it into a nearby trash can, grumbling about the burnt smell. Hadrian ducked under all of Seth's attacks, as if he knew what was going to happen. Which, thanks to Luke's spirit inside him, he did. He took the arrows out of Alex's quiver and began throwing them like darts into Seth's armor, making it look like random places. Nico and the Lion continued to stare each other down, until Seth took the wrong step backwards and landed on it. The Lion's maw quickly swallowed Seth, leaving nothing behind. Suddenly, the lion exploded into dust. Nico looked at Hadrian for an explanation.

"Arrows fell out of the armor." Hadrian smiled, looking a lot like Luke. Thalia's battle was still raging, each blow getting weaker and weaker. Finally, Chrysaor just came up behind her and pushed her to the ground. Nico threw Alex's knife at Alicia, implanting it in her neck. Chrysaor was about to grab Thalia's neck when a stinkbomb hit him in the face. He looked over at Hadrian, who looked oddly happy for a five year old who was about to die. Hadrian took his shield and threw it, impaling Chrysaor's leg. Then, Nico came from behind and eased his sword into his back, destroying the monster's essence. After a moment of silence, Hadrian spoke up.

"Not cleaning up! Called it!"


	10. Chapter 10: Oh SH T

"Thalia, just put it in already! It's hard to hold this thing in." Nico moaned loudly.

"Be quiet! We don't want any one to hear us doing this in public! It's immoral, illegal, and...oddly exciting." Thalia wiggled her reached down and grabbed something hard, making Nico cry out.

"Stop! We don't need this bag to rip! Geeze, it's already bad enough that we're burying these guys in garbage bags. If the bag rips, the blood's gonna drip out, and there'll be evidence."

"I know. This isn't the first time I've had to bury a body." Nico froze, thinking of the poor person who had to live through that.

"Dalia! Nico!" Hadrian cried out, running towards them at top speed with his shield.

"What?" Thalia asked, instinctively reaching for her spear.

"I found..."

"Yes?" Nico asked, creating a ball of shadow in his hands.

"It's bad."

"What?"

"The cotton candy machine. It's broken." Hadrian held up a staff from the zoo, tipped with an eagle's head, covering from the bottom up with cotton candy.

"First, cool staff. Second, how did you get the cotton candy all over it?" Nico asked, clearly confused. Hadrian blinked twice, bit into his staff, then replied.

"The machine's broken. I hit it on the top, it went PQQROOOW and then cotton candy fell over the screen thingy, so I twirled it on my staff."

"Hadrian." Thalia began, her hand on her temples.

"Yes?"

"Don't break anything else. And, if you're going to steal, go empty out the cash registers and get me a soda." Thalia snapped her fingers and sent him on his way.

"Smooth." Nico's voice oozed sarcasm.

"What?"

"We're trying to teach him to...I don't know, not steal, to start with!"

"Nico. We have four days to travel to gods know where to save the freaking Minotaur, or face certain doom."

"What about the flying boar?"

"I remembered that Chrysaor actually is the flying boar. I'm glad he was in his human form though. Made it easier to kill him." They dumped the bodies in the grave that Nico had dug and geokinetically replaced the dirt. They walked slowly towards the gift shop, where Hadrian was stuffing all the toys he could find in his pockets. They talked for a few moments about what to do next, but decided it would be smartest to leave and hit a hotel or Annabeth's.

"Let's go to a hotel!" Hadrian laughed in the car, licking cotton candy off of the eagle staff.

"Why?" Thalia asked, counting the $1258 Hadrian had...obtained.

"Because, hotel's are fun! Like road trips!"

"Son of the god of travelers..."Nico let off.

"Whatever. Just keep your eyes on the road."

"...Yes, Mommy."

"Hey, don't make me call you Daddy. Zeus AND Hermes would blast you to pieces."

"No, Hermes would turn me into a snake, and Zeus would send himself down as an eagle to eat me, poop me out, and then blow me up."

"Very creative. Best scenario you've made so far."

"Thanks."

"Guys?" Hadrian asked, fidgeting in the rear view mirror.

"Yeah?"

"I gotta pee."

"Nico, pull over so he can run into some alleyway and pee."

"No! I'm afraid of alleys! Percy told me about his brother who got attacked by a Pink in the alleys!"

"Oh, yes, because Pink is that horrible of an artist." Thalia laughed.

"Well, she doesn't do much punk, so yeah. What if we drop you off in a restaurant and wait outside?" Nico proposed.

"No! I can't go pee alone! What if some monsters come at me in the bathroom?" Suddenly, a lightbulb lit above Thalia's head. As in, she had an idea, accidentally let out a spark, and lit up the lightbulb on the passenger side.

"Nico, honey?" Thalia put a hand on Nico's cheek and began rubbing it gently.

"Oh, gods. Run, Hadrian! She's gone crazy!" Nico joked, locking the car doors just in case.

"Go pee with him."

"What?"

"Yeah, go with him so he doesn't feel so alone."

"And then what? Take him to McDonald's fifteen minutes past breakfast and hide him from social workers? I'm not Big Daddy. You go pee with him."

"So...you'd rather have a little boy see your weak girlfriend's private...parts, than go with him and keep him safe?"

"First, he's not pubescent so he wouldn't care that much. Second, I'll go, if you promise to do something for me later..." Nico winked.

"...Take him, or you'll be wearing a racing stripe when you wake up tomorrow." Nico immediately pulled over at Thalia's...request, and took Hadrian into the nearby Walmart. They ran into the bathroom and stood awkwardly, not sure what to do next.

"Maybe you should get in the stall instead..." Nico opened the door and lead the child inside. A moment later, there were two sounds that amazed him. First, was Hadrian peeing and going 'Ah. Thas better.' and the second was a woman yelling 'HELP ME! A BLACK BEAR IS ATTACKING!' So, as any normal demigod would do, Nico pulled his sword out of the ground and formed his shield, ran out, then came back in. He heard the metallic clang of Hadrian's shield hitting the bathroom tile and nodded. He ran out and came face to face with a hellhound, with chocolate smeared all over it's face.

"Huh. I thought chocolate killed do-" The hellhound began barfing everywhere, hitting the harpy over head and the spiky projectile that flew towards Nico. He bounced it off his shield and into the wall, drawing a knife from his pocket. He threw it at the harpy, making it explode into golden dust. The knife fell, and, unfortunately, the hell hound had looked up, mouth still open, to see what had happened. The knife fell into its mouth, down it's throat, and stabbed it's uvula. It whimpered then also exploded.

"Freeze, son of Hades!" A voice sneered, and another spike embedded itself in the floor in front of him. A manticore and a Laistryagonian appeared from behind a cash register.

"Wait, wait, wait. How did I miss you guys standing there?" Nico laughed, picking a spike off the floor. He threw it at the Laistryagonian, who tried to dodge it, only to fall onto Nico's discarded knife. He muttered something like 'Oh shi-' then blew up.

"You've only used that knife for one attack. So much carnage for it though. No wonder my master wants your student." The manticore threw its self at Nico, tossing spikes around like a giant gross of bottle rockets had went off all at once. Nico dodged, deflected, parried, and even limboed under the spikes.

"Will...you...stop?" Nico stabbed it through the head, causing the manticore to scream. _Wait...that was..._

"Nico!" Hadrian screamed. Nico turned around too late, and watched helplessly as a harpy carried Hadrian through a broken window. Nico sat there for a moment, on the virge of tears. Then, suddenly he did cry. He crumpled up onto the floor and cried like a child.

"Thalia's gonna kill me!"


	11. Chapter 11: Vegas?

((Last chapter was a little...cliffy.I'm going to do this one in 1st person, more precisely,Nico's, to see how it goes.I don't own PJATO, and now that Hadrian's been demi-napped, I've got nothin'.))

So...after I grabbed a soda and some snacks to help calm a certain Daughter of Zeus down, I told Thalia what happened. I would like to say that she took it well, and didn't cause me bodily harm, because she was too busy crying.I would also like to say that Willy Wonka is my best friend and we swim in his waterfall of chocolate, but that's a lie too. No, she...well, let me do a flashback.

_"Hey, where's Hadrian?" Thalia asked as I slid into my car, trying very hard not to bang my head against the wheel. The little guy had grown on me, and now he was gone._

_ "Want a Reese's?" I tossed the pack into her hand, turning around to look out the window like Hadrian would suddenly pop out any moment and come back to finish his cotton candy._

_ "Yeah, but where's Hadrian?"_

_ "Listen, there were monsters following us. I'm not sure how they knewwe would stop at Walmart to use the restroom, but they did. They...they took Hadrian." I looked over at her, ready for her hand to hit my face. She sat there for a moment, blinked, then looked out the window._

_ "No, seriously, where is he?" I sighed and ripped open another pack of candy and told her the story. Then, she did the last thing I expected her to do. She started crying. Loudly, and hard. I mean, the windows vibrated, thunder roared outside loud. Then, came the angry realization stage._

_ "I will __fucking kill__ whoever is responsible for this!" She yelled to the sky. Would of worked better if she were outside of the freaking sports car,not causing me inner ear damage._

_ "Come on, Thalia, we'd better get going before something else shows up." I started the engine and felt a familiar sensation._

_ "This is your fault!" Thalia kept slapping me, each time with less and less...enthusiasm._

_ "How is this my fault!"_

_ "You're the idiot who didn't stand in the stall with him!"_

_ "Yeah, I didn't feel like being pedophilic, Thal, that is entirely why we got attacked by monsters. Because I didn't feel like calling up and telling him what I just did."_

_ "Just shut up and drive!" She buried her face in her arms and I didn't see her face for the rest of the when I had to carry her into our hotel room. I didn't really feel like explaining to Seaweed Brain what had happened._

And that's about it. But, on the bright side, I still had my eyebrows. Well, one of them. Thalia did zap Bernie off. Now Ernie's all alone. On a bigger bright side, she didn't ignore me for a while.

"What are you doing?" She finally asked from her pillow as I typed away on our laptop.

"Trying to find out where the Minotaur might be. We only have four days."

"To Hades with that, we need to find Hadrian first."

"First, we will find him. Second, why do people always send bad stuff to my dad? He just puts it in my hallway, Hell." ((You'll have to read my other stories to get that joke.)) I clicked on a link and waited for the cheap internet to load the page.

"Shut up and start thinking. Who would want Hadrian and why?"

"I think someone who didn't want us to kill the Kraken."

"Stop the Kraken from awakening, you mean. There's no way we can kill it."

"...You don't think we could ask..."

"No, I'm not doing it."

"Please?"

"No, besides, he defeated Cetus, the huge sea serpent, not the Kraken! Mythology gets twisted over the years." Okay,it wasn't the coolest thing I've said in a while, but it was true.

"Look, maybe he has some insight on how to kill this thing then. The Kraken can't be too different."

"Thalia, did you ever see Clash of the Titans?"

"The new one or the old one?"

"Both."

"Yeah, what of it?:

"Well, the first one had Cetus in it, just the big octopus looking humanoid. But, the Kraken can take two forms. The first is a freaking huge squid, and the second is basically like the new Kraken."

"So...it's like Chrysaor? It has two different forms, and there is only one that's the true form?"

"Right. Chrysaor's form is the pig, but to blend in, he does the person. The Kraken probably will show up near our old friend Atlas's home. And, will probably be taking the giant squid form."

"So, we just need to find the Kraken and we find who took Hadrian from us." Thalia said it with such...finality that I wanted to believe her. Wanted to, but didn't.

"I don't think so, because by that time, it's already loose on the world. I say we focus on finding whoever wants it raised first. If they're smart, they'll have some plan to tame the monster and make sure it doesn't kill them. We get them, we get Hadrian."

"So...what are we doing again?" I tried to ignore her for a minute and clicked on another link, but she closed the laptop and looked me in the eyes.

"I think...we're going...to Cali."

"To get the minny."

"How'd you come up with that?"

"Just read some sightings, and drew up a google map."

"What would a map do?"

"I marked down all the monsters we've found and angled it up to how far they went from Hadrian's. The Nemean Lion, the second largest, made it all the way up the coast. So, I thought of the distance, and I think we've got to go to Cali."

"Why not ask around before we leave?"

"All right 's go to the Market."

"All right, all right! I'll tell ya!" A man pleaded, backing up from Thalia's spear. I didn't really approve of using violence to get our answers, but after a while we found this guy hanging out in some dark alley at the Market. Of course, he did the usual stuff, pleaded with us, offered us goods for his life, really low things like that. That guy just disgusted me. How do worldly goods measure up to one's life? I of all people should know that. But, after a few scrapes and bruises he stopped crying and told us.

"Look, all I know is that you need to talk to this demigod in Vegas. He..he knows things. That's all I can tell you. Please, please let me live." So, Thalia did the reasonable thing. She butted him with the end of her spear, kicked him in the nuts and ran off. Ten minutes and one shadow travel later, we were in Vegas, standing in front of the worst place I had ever been to.

"Nico, why are we here?"

"Look, it is the only thing I think of when I hear Vegas, okay?" Memories came flooding back of playing video games, having dinner with Bianca, and the confusion we had when a lawyer came to get us from some hotel we didn't even know we got in. But, I didn't have time to spend reminiscing. If any demigod lived in Vegas, this is where he would be.

"So, now what?" Thalia asked, taking a look at the building. I noticed the sign outside that advertised their free summer camp program and almost laughed at the question marks at the end of the date.

"I say...we go in."

"...What?"

"Think about it, where else would a half-blood live in Vegas?"

"Fine. Just, don't accept anything from them."

"No, we take the credit cards. That'll throw them off of us for a while." So, we walked in and took a few credit cards from the employees. We snuck our way around, looking for a fortune teller's booth, or a card booth like you would see on TV, with three or more cards and some sleazy guy behind the table mixing them up. But, we didn't have that kind of luck. After a while, we found ourselves face to...chest with some rather buff employees. Their name tags read Chuck and Norris. I wasn't sure if it was a joke, or if these red haired twins were really Chuck Norris's children.

"Excuse me, but, would you two tell us your room numbers? We try to keep out the riff raff, and we do this to suspected persons." Chuck asked, balancing a laptop on his hand.

"Um, 506?"

"...You are Elvis Presley?" Crap.

"No, she meant 605! You see, we're dyslexic and she gets numbers more confused than anything." Oh, great, now I was starting to sweat.

"Oh, you're our newlyweds! Mrs. Smith, we're sorry about this." Chuck read, typing on the laptop with blazing fast fingers. Thank the gods he boug- wait, Mr. and Mrs. Smith? Like, we're married? Like, we want to kill each other? Yeah, that works.

"Thank you. Oh, could you tell us if there's anyone here who knows...pretty much anyone? We're looking for one of our friends." I didn't get the wording right but the message got through.

"Well, we've got a fortune teller hanging out in room 305. Really lazy, likes telling people off about their fears, or secrets or whatever. Whatever he predicts does happen to come true, though, I'll give him that." Norris spoke for the first time. His voice was extremely high for someone as big as him, and I tried hard not to laugh.

"Thanks, our friend is really into that kind of stuff, so we might find him there."

"Yeah, no problem. Take care now."And, we rushed to room 305, stopping to laugh our butts off in the hallway. We knocked on the door and stood there for a moment, trying not to think of Norris. A young man opened the door and looked us over.

"What do you want? I'm closed." His eyes traveled up to the sign on his door knob, a cardboard cut out door hanger that read 'Closed until 6.'

"We want information." Thalia said before I could.

"On what?"

"A little friend of ours."

"I'm closed. Go find your little friend somewhere else." He started to close the door, but I held up a drachma and put it in the frame.

"Let's get to the point. You know what that is, therefore you know who we are. We want information on a friend of ours, Hadrian, who could be the guy who awakens the Kraken. Got it?" I let my arm fall, the drachma dropping into his hand. He looked it over once and then peered down the hall. Nobody was there, but he still had a suspicious look on his face.

"Get in, quick."


	12. Chapter 12: CRAP!

((Anyone else, who has read the new book notice how many grammar errors there were? Like with that Rheay girl... Rick doesn't own a grammar book, but I don't own PJATO, so we're even.))

"Welcome to my humble abode." The boy said, waving a hand around the room. It looked like every other room in the hotel. Meaning, it was freaking awesome.

"Wow," whistled Thalia, "snazzy. I wouldn't mind spending some time in here."

"Yeah, you would." Nico clenched his teeth. Thalia showed a guilty look for a moment, but it disappeared like a flash of lightning.

"Ah. A little mad about spending so much time in here? Just be glad you got to take a swim. It stinks to be in here for over a thousand years and still know what is happening outside." The boy threw a newspaper towards Nico, who quickly caught it and scanned the headline.

"This is tomorrow's paper?" Nico read the headlines carefully, searching for any clues to it's falicy.((fakeness in other words.))

"No, Nico di Angelo, that is today's. You of all demigods should know that...well, time flies." The boy sat up on a counter and looked at an orange in a fruit bowl as if it were the bane of the gods.

"Who are you?" Nico asked, throwing the newspaper into a nearby trash can.

"I prefer to be called Marcus these days. I used to be an oracle and a great prophecy teller, but then I came here to warn people of their fates, and oops! I fell into it all. But, I get daily newspapers from Hermes' mailing system, so I get updated every...four hours. I got that an hour ago, which means you have sixteen hours left in this day, and three days till the Kraken arrives. Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock."

"All right...Marcus, we want to know about Hadrian." Thalia looked around the room carefully, as if everything in there was going to pounce on her and trap her forever.

"Hadrian...son of Hermes?"

"That'd be him." Nico looked out the window, watching the cars blur by at impossible speeds.

"He's been kidnapped."

"Thank you, Marcus, captain of the Obvious Squad." Thalia muttered under her breath.

"Welcome. But, you have to get me some information to recieve information. Didn't Tweedledee and Tweedledu- I mean, Chuck and Norris tell you that?"

"Wow. We're in Wonderland. But, no, they didn't. Look, we're on a time restricted schedule...so..." Nico tapped his watch a few times.

"Yes, yes. I want to know more. About...life."

"What do you mean?"

"What does it feel like, to wake up one morning and realize you've grown? What is it like, to find your body growing more mature? What is it like, to have someone to care for you? Do you know how dreadfully boring it is here, never aging, never having someone to express you're emotions to?"

"Yes." The half-bloods replied together.

"Seriously? But, you had you're sister, and you had the Hunters."

"Sister died, nobody to talk to in the Underworld."

"I did some things I'm not too proud of in the Hunters." Thalia's head dropped, her eyes locking onto her shoes.

"Thalia, it wasn't that bad."

"Yes, it was!" She started to cry, charging the air with ozone.

"No, it was all a misunderstanding."

"I could have killed you!"

"What?" Marcus shouted in shock, his eyes darting between the two.

"Oh, relax. She pantzed me and Percy during a capture the flag at camp and we almost fell onto our own _sheathed_ swords. Though, that wouldn't have hurt Seaweed Brain much, considering the fact that...it's a pen."

Meanwhile, at Annabeth's house, Percy shot up off the couch and looked around.

"What is it, Percy?"

"My Seaweed-Brain senses are tingling. Must. Burn. Hair. Off. Arm." And, back to Thalia.

"Oh. But, tell me, what it is like, and I will tell you where you're friend is." Marcus turned around, finding a black sword pointed at his throat.

"Or, you could tell us now and we won't cut you." Nico threatened, very unlike him.

"Oh, thanks. Or, you could tell me and get an answer." Marcus dropped the orange on the blade, splitting it directly in two. He smiled as the orange disappeared into nothing, it's essence absorbed by the Stygian iron.

"Life's...a mixed up thing." Thalia began, rolling her eyes. Then, for the next two and a half hours, they basically turned Marcus into Jerry Springer.

"Now, Nico, what do you think about that?"

"Well, Marcus, I think it's not nice that she made me eat her rug. The taste is indescribable. It didn't match the curtains, I'll tell you that much."

"What? You think children of Zeus just get black curtains? No, this is special."

"Oh, whatever. That throw rug tasted horrible though. And, then, we went back to playing truth or dare like it was nothing! I vomited wool for a week! Grover nearly kicked me out of camp because he thought I ate a sheep whole!"

"Yeah, right. Everything's because of truth or dare. You pantzed me because of truth or dare, you had the Stolls make a BOOK on jokes about me because of truth or dare. And, here comes the big one. I hope our dads are listening..." Thalia grinned wickedly.

"You wouldn't!" Nico's eyes grew wide in horror.

"Oh, I would! And, YOU STOLE CONDOMS BECAUSE OF TRUTH OR DARE!" Thunder rumbled harshly outside.

"Okay, first, I did. It was a dare for me. Second, at least I didn't use them on you like a few Aphrodite campers did. Stupid rite of passage. Hades' spawn can't do that."

"O...Kay...You guys have issues...so...That's all the time we have!"

"What?" They asked Marcus in disbelief.

"Yeah, you have five minutes till you have three days to find Hadrian, find the Kraken's...patron, and kill it. Head to the base of Mount Tam, and look for the golden one." And with that, Marcus left...to go to the bathroom. The sound of falling water filled the air and Thalia and Nico rushed out, heading back to their car, even though they shadow traveled.

"So..we go to Mount Tam, find The Golden One and rescue Hadrian?"

", he's already been beaten."

"Hadrian?"

"No, our enemy."

"Who would tha-No."

"Yeah. Think about it, we didn't kill him, just trapped him in a tree in New York. Six years ago. I'm pretty sure that he could have broken through some of it."

"But, if he really is back.."

"Then Hyperion's going to be really mad at Percy, yeah. That's why he's starting in the West. He wants it to be brutally tempting for Percy. Either come out and die, or stay home and die."

"Cheery thought."

"Yeah, Thalia, but what worries me?"

"What?"

"If we have three more days, then why do I get the feeling we're in trouble?" Then, just as they were heading out the door, something knocked Nico over the head, knocking him out cold. Thalia almost screamed at the creature before her, but she was knocked out as well. When they awoke, they couldn't believe what a nearby newspaper said.

"How..."

"We're still in the hotel. We've wasted too much time. We've been out for eight hours."

"But, who-Hyperion's goons did this."

"Yeah. Now we only have a day to get to the base of Mount Tam."

"I've been there before. You can only enter during the sunset."

"Then, looks like we've got some time to kill. I've got an idea, come on."

((As you can see, this chapter was...horrible, and more like a filler chapter.))


	13. Chapter 13: Boardwalk

((There are only two chapters left, people. Sorry I didn't make this funnier or more romantic, I've been off my game lately. I'm thinking of making an unrelated story after this about Annabeth at camp...more deets next chapter. Usual disclaimer here.))

Nico di Angelo fell out of the shadow clumsily, rolling down the board walk for a minute or two before he straightened himself out and looked around for Thalia. Hopefully, she was here and not in Japan. Again.

"There it is in the distance." A voice said behind him. He turned around to find a pair of peircing blue eyes looking beyond him, beyond the boardwalk, towards the mountain. Nico gulped as he imagined having to hike up that thing, possibly meeting a small army of monsters sometime on the slope.

"Well, well. What do we have here?" A deep voice said from behind the couple. They spun around and barely ducked under the longsword that slashed at their heads. The weilder stood there, laughing, with his golden eyes locked onto Thalia. A strange screeching nois came from the sky, and a fireball shot it's way towards Nico. He dropped onto the ground, rolling under it's...wings?

"There you are. Lazy phoenix." The teen laughed, gently petting its beak. Nico looked him over quickly. _Blonde hair, tan, goofy smile, cool clothes._ _Well...at least this guy doesn't look too evil. Ohp, spoke too soon. Sword!_ Nico quickly formed his shield, blocking the attack.

"So...I've heard that you guys killed Seth. I don't bear you any ill will or whatever for that. He had it coming. But, my master says I have to kill you...so...hold still!" Nico took his sword out of the ...nothing. They were standing on wood. So, he did the natural thing. He knelt behind his shield and concentrated on the stand across from him, where a man who was selling precious gems was running for his life. A diamond flew towards him, growing in size until it become a long lance. Nico stood up valiantly, only to fall back down as the teen flicked his forehead.

"I forgot about the introductions. I'm Jacob, and I already know who you guys are. The phoenix is Pyrus. Original name, I know, but Hyperion liked it so he's stuck with it." Jacob slashed at Nico's lance, doing nothing to it.

"You know, you don't have to work for him." Nico said suddenly. Jacob took a step back, his eyes narrowing.

"What do you mean?"

"In reality, without magic, you're probably...five, right?"

"Yeah?"

"What does Hyperion do to you, in like a fatherly figure way?"

"I don't see how it matters, but nothing. He has my sister, I have to work for him."

"Do you? You're the son of Kronos. You could easily beat him, with our help." Nico tossed aside his lance and grabbed the edge of Jacob's sword. Jacob stood there for a moment, a dazed look on his face. He looked over to where Thalia and Pyrus were fighting, Thalia calling him KFC. Nico smiled and raised his hand, only to have a burst of light burn it.

"What the-L-Lord Hyperion." Jacob managed to say before knealing.

"Jacob...if you betray me, your sister shall die. Nico di Angelo...I've been waiting for you." Hyperion stood before him, his golden armor slightly dulled. He held a ball of blinding light in his hand, which Nico presumed was what had burned him. Some idiot had left on his boom box three feet away from him and Pink's Raise Your Glass began pounding into his ear drums, driving him insane.

_So raise your glass if you are wrong, in all the right ways_

_all my under dogs,_

_we will never be, never be anything but loud_

_and nitty gritty dirty little freaks_

Then, Nico decided that, if he was going to die at the hands of a Titan, a Pink song would not be his executioner's drum roll. He threw the boombox at Hyperion, who simply shot it with his finger, destroying the annoying sound.

"More like you've been waiting to kill us." Thalia muttered under her breath. Hyperion flinched, then turned towards her. A single arrow stuck in his arrow, reading 'Kick me'. _I just love our trips to the Market._ Nico smiled.

"Jacob, round up Pyrus, we're heading home. And, bring these two along."

Ten minutes and six pounds of magic rope later, Thalia and Nico were struggling under their bonds, which grew hotter and hotter with every step. Finally, they reached the top of the mountain, huddled inside the makeshift castle Hyperion had formed out of tents and were released. Into the middle of the Titan's camp.

"So...would you like some lunch?" Hyperion asked, trying to make some conversation while Jacob was changing out of his armor.

"Yeah, like we'd eat with you. Why are you being nice to us?"

"I suppose some of the satyr's magic has changed a small part of my personality. After all, being a tree for four years makes you think about the finer things in life, and who and how you will kill when you are released." Hyperion smiled back at Thalia. She wanted to yell at him that she had been a tree longer, yet didn't want to kill her father, but didn't have the strength.

"Like she said, we'd never eat with you." Nico summed up, turning his head towards the sunset.

"I have fluffer nutter sandwiches." Jacob announced, walking in with a tray full of the delicious sandwiches and sodas.

"I'm in." Thalia and Nico said, throwing the other an embarrased look. They ate in an uncomfortable silence, trying not to reach for their weapons and kill the other. A moment later, a dracaena raced through the maze of tents, dropping a large box in front of Hyperion.

"Ah, yes, your demise has arrived." Nico sat stunned, staring as the wet box moved around, making odd noises.

"You have the Kraken in there?" Nico's face paled even more.

"No, dear boy, I said your demise, not the mortals' demise. You see, the Kraken will need three sacrifices to gain a thirst for blood. So, we have this. Merry...whatever holiday is closest."

The box sprang open, revealing a crying, blood stained Hadrian.

"Hadrian!" Thalia reached for her spear, only to have Hyperion intercept her.

"Now, now. You should play nicely with other children."

"Dalia? Nico?" Hadrian coughed out, reaching his little tied hands out towards them. Jacob innocently held up a can of Sprite to Hadrian, who immediately chugged it down. Thalia reached out to him, bringing him into her lap. Hadrian huffed indignantly for a moment, then settled down onto her chest. He took a small sack out of his pocket and began counting it's contents, but was interrupted.

"Right, after we all finish, the sacrifice will begin." Hyperion clapped his hands together and walked off. Jacob sat there for a moment, then spoke.

"I'll help you guys out."

"What?" Hadrian coughed out.

"I'll help you guys escape. I don't really approve of UPSing children in boxes here, much less kidnapping in general. And, you were right, Nico, he doesn't really do anything for me. I think, if I can get you guys out of here, you might be able to send a rescue team in to get my sister." Nico sat there for a moment with Thalia, taking in the words. Then, they stood up and emptied their pockets. Magic swords, fire beads, fireball shooting pens, and all sorts of magical items that could be weapons fell out. Hadrian picked up a toy cannon and pressed the red button on top, causing fire to shoot out and burn a giant hole in the tent wall.

"Wow. Really should have searched you..." Jacob laughed.

"Let's roll." Hadrian said, taking a pair of real X-ray glasses that let you see through walls, but not clothes. Those were Nico's. Glued to Thalia's shirt.

"Stupid magic crazy glue." Nico pouted, wanting to look like the Matrix.


	14. Chapter 14: Hit the Snooze

(( Well, I finally got my two hematite rings off of Ebay. They fit great! Until some douche in tech class broke my first one. Oh, well. After this, I will start working on my new(ish) story, Annabeth in Wonderland. Before you guess, no it's not actually about Annabeth traveling to Wonderland. She gets stuck in Disney dimensions, like Wonderland, Halloweentown, etc., and has to make her way through each world, collecting her friends along the way. Usual disclaimer. Cuz I'm lazy.))

"So...what now?" Nico asked as they slid down the mountain in their makeshift vehicle. Technically, it was just a bunch of cardboard boxes they had managed to tape together with an axel of twigs setting the rounded stone wheels. Amazing what you could do with 2 five year olds, some tape, and a sword. Jacob sat in the back with Nico, constantly looking towards the mountain as if waiting for something.

"Hyperion will...probably turn me back into a five year old." Jacob admitted, smiling sadly.

"Oh, right. I'm sorry, Jacob." Nico looked at Jacob for a moment, trying to imagine how scary it must be to grow up so quickly and learn so much, only to get shoved back into reality. Then again, he had been there, but not like this.

"No, it's okay. I'm choosing the right side, I know I am. I deserve to be punished, and this is what it is. Gods, Karma's a bitch." Jacob laughed, trying not to let Hadrian hear him.

"Yeah, it is. But, it works both ways."

"What do you mean?" Nico looked at Thalia and Hadrian, somehow asleep, sitting side by side in their little corner of cardboard.

"See Hadrian over there?"

"Yeah?"

"He's an old...friend of Thalia's, reincarnated. She doesn't know, but I think she can sense it. Maybe that's why she seems to care for him so much. And him for her. We did good, helping bring down the Titans, though apparently, we didn't do a good enough job," Nico laughed, looking at his hematite ring like it held all the answers.

"So..you're saying, that, because I'm doing this, something good will happen to me?"

"No. I'm saying something great will happen. Who knows what, when, or how, but everything has a repurcussion. Good or bad, karma or Titans, you're doing something good and should be proud of yourself." Just as Nico finished, Jacob began to grow shorter, his clothes now growing five sizes too big. His hair fell down into his eyes, making him peep out from underneath them and blow them to the side.

"Well. It sucks being tree feet tall." Jacob laughed, instantly waking Thalia and Hadrian. They each went for their knives, but stopped as they saw Jacob. Nico quickly explained and they looked pained for a moment. Until Hadrian passed otu from starvation, making Thalia faint.

"Great. So, now I have to get you some clothes, wake her, and buy everyone lunch." Nico smirked. Jacob yawned twice and looked as though he were trying his best to stay awake, but Nico rolled him over to Thalia, who moved over and let him get beside Hadrian. She looked down at the children and smiled.

"What do we do with Jacob? Could he go to camp?" Thalia's voice sounded slightly pained, as if she were asking 'What if we don't get Hadrian to camp?' instead.

"We'll find something," Nico promised, looking out his little window. Trees began to move by faster and faster as they barreled downhill. Then, he heard it. A small crunching noise, directly underneath them. "But, we may be in a bit of trouble."

First, the axel snapped, sending a few of the rock wheels shooting into the wilderness, the front end of the cardboard tipping forward, threatening to throw Hadrian and Jacob off. They quickly grabbed the boys and pushed out the back end, which opened dangerously easily. _Geeze, glad I didn't lean against that!_ Nico thought as he hurled himself out of the vehicle, hoping he hit the ground running. But, running uphill isn't easy, especially not when you have to jump and run. So, naturally, he fell, curling himself into a ball around Jacob, and rolling until the reached a small clearing, where Thalia sat, breathless as Hadrian ran around in a panic.

"We're lost, oh my god, we're lost! Quick! Call a park ranger! Or that big scary guy! Wait, no, he didn't let me have Mr. Bubble. Let's go kill the scary guy! Wait, we can't, we're lost. Oh my god, we're lost! Help! Somebody! Help!" Hadrian yelled, shooting fireballs every which way with his pen.

"Hadrian! First, you might end up signaling the...scary guy. Second, you must grip it firmly by the shaft and move your other hand up slowly, pointing it in the direction you want it to shoot, or get blasted in the face!" Thalia lectured, trying to remove the glasses from her shirt. A moment later, she heard a quiet 'That's what she said' and threw a rock at Nico. Nico rubbed his head quietly, watching Jacob and Hadrian try to build a fire. Hadrian had somehow found a marker and was writing 'Menyou' on two pieces of cardboard. He scribbled away by the fire as the sun set, not letting anyone see what he was making. After an hour, Nico's senses shot up. Everything around him was more defined, every sound louder, every thought clearer, every movement more noticable. Then, he heard the roaring. The sound split his ears like a jackhammer would concrete, sending him and his friends onto the ground, clasping their ears in pain. It was as if the entire mountain had decided to yell at them for not cleaning their rooms. After a moment the roaring stopped, but they all stood up slowly, weapons drawn to be safe.

"What the heck?" Jacob asked, his sword weighing too much in his hands. He threw it in the air, clapped, and caught the bow and arrow quiver it turned into, leaving Thalia and Nico to ponder what had happened. They looked into the fire, at the mountain, and at Hadrian, and realized it.

"But, who?" Nico asked, not noticing any other people on the mountain.

"The dracaena. I bet he used them as his little sacrifices." Thalia glanced at the water around them wearily, as if some shark may decide to start strolling around on land.

"What?" Hadrian asked, his shield and sword on the ground as he poked at the flames. The roaring began again and he quickly picked them up, looking around for anything. Jacob looked into the sky and frowned.

"Good news, bad news." He told Nico.

"What?"

"Good news, there's a few pegasi coming this way. Bad news, the Kraken's awake." He pointed towards the water a few leagues out, where the sea churned and boiled over, causing the pegasi to flow away for a moment before coming back to kick the swell on the top, making it halt its progress for a moment. Suddenly, a large head shot out of the water, a scaly eel like version of a human's head, trapping a fifth pegasi in it's mouth and devouring it. The entire body shot up out of the water, giving the group a sinister sillouete of the beast.

"Huh. You were right, Nico. It does look like the one on Clash of the Titans. Except for the hard scales, and the...shark fin on it's head, and the..wow, spikes on it's chest. Wonder what kind of sushi he would make." Thalia's stomach grumbled.

"Yeah, well, let's hope he's not too pissed off about the oil spill." The Kraken turned in their direction as Jacob said this, it's mouth releasing thousands of gallons of water back into the sea. It dove under, only it's shark fin giving any indication of it's bearings. Which was right for them.

"Yep. He's pissed. Run."


	15. Chapter 15: Existence

((Nothing really noteworthy...will add more chapters after this, including a slight epilogue/blooper reel and an alternate ending. Then, it will be add on chapters, kinda like side stories and flashbacks. I'm sorry, the author you've tried to contact, katanakid14, is not available at this time. Please contact the owner of the PJATO series, Rick Riordan or leave a message after the beep))

"Holy *BEEP*" Jacob yelled, riding his pegasi towards the Kraken. It was the dumbest thing that Thalia and Nico had ever decided to do, and this included their version of a Camp Half Blood Jackass.

"So, we all know the plan right?" Nico shouted above the wind.

"What plan?" Hadrian shouted back, digging into his pockets, looking for something.

"Exactly!" Thalia yelled, her eyes frozen shut in terror as she hung onto Nico's back.

"Mypenisisgone!" Hadrian shouted to Nico, his eyes wide in horror.

"We'll find your pen later! Right now, we need to focus on this!" Nico shouted and dove towards the beast. ((That is like My pen, is-is gone! Not my penis is gone. Pervs)) Thalia let go for a moment, fiddling with something behind his back. A moment later, he felt extreme, intense heat on his shirt, turning around to look. Thalia had already taped all the fire shooting pens together, pressing all 50 to shoot an inferno. She dropped them towards the Kraken as it came up to get another piece of Kentucky Fried Pegasus. It swallowed the pens, crying out in pain as the flames burned its organs. It dove under again, steam billowing towards the surface and came back up, looking madder than before. Hadrian's pegasus looped through the air beside it, a risky move, but one that paid off. Hadrian threw all of the tiny metal tubes Nico had given him into the Kraken's face, and watched in odd delight as they all expanded into celestial bronze swords. They pierced the Kraken in the eyes, the mouth, and one even made it's way up its nose. The beast sneezed, creating a hurricane in front of them. Jacob and Nico quickly swerved out of the way, meeting in the middle.

"Now, Jacob!" Jacob threw his bag down, the disgusting tasting marshmallows making the beast roar in aggravation. Thalia emptied sack after sack of fire marbles, each exploding into unextinguishable greek fire before the entire beast was a glowing green mess. The pegasi flew higher into the sky as the Kraken jumped, it's entire body coming out of the water. soon, its entire lower body was also covered in flame.

"Great. We spent over a thousand drachma, and haven't even put a dent in this thing's life line." Thalia raved, watching as the Kraken picked swords out of it's body, ignoring the flame.

"No, it's getting weaker, I can feel it." Nico couldn't explain it, but he could sense the Kraken's life diminishing every second, "We're almost done. We're actually doing some good."

Nico did the stupidest thing he had ever done in that moment of indecision. He switched places with Thalia, letting her take control of a pegasus. Then, he did the second stupidest thing ever. He jumped off its back, speeding towards the Kraken's open maw with his Stygian iron, soul reaping blade sticking straight out in front, as if he were a human javelin. Then, he noticed it. He began to slow down, his body feeling like Jello. Jacob glided down next to him, whispering, but the words sounding like screeching through a bull horn.

"I know what I must do. I have to slay this thing. It shouldn't be here. This monster shouldn't be alive. I shouldn't exist." Jacob smiled sadly. He took the blade from Nico, rewinding Nico back towards the mythological ride and speeding himself up. A moment later, all sound ceased for Nico, the world turning black and white. He remembered reaching his arms out, trying to grab Jacob, screaming at the top of his lungs, but no sound came out. He hit the pegasus with a hard crunching feeling in all his bones, but no sound came out. The Kraken exploded into flames, burning Jacob's body to a crisp and pushing them all west. The sword stabbed Jacob in the heart, making the boy dissolve as the sword took his soul for ransom, smiling happily towards the group. And yet, the world remained mute.

One week later, at Camp Half Blood, Hadrian, Thalia, and Nico stood around an engraved stone, the camp's first grave marker. Jacob's honorary grave marker was written in a magic spell, so all who read it would read in their native language.

"Here lies the memory of Jacob, third son of Kronos, saver of the World, slayer of the Kraken, and a true friend. We honor and commemorate his valiant actions with this, Camp Halfblood's first grave stone." Hadrian read, his voice cracking and tears running down his face. He dropped a drachma into a slot on top of the grave, an offering to the young hero so he may cross the river Styx on Charon's ferry. Nico held the umbrella over his head sadly, holding Thalia as she cried into his shoulder. The Stolls stood close behind, waiting to take their new brother back to their cabin. They gratefully bowed their heads, not once thinking of stealing the precious coins within the stone. Thunder and lightning roared around them, a reminder to Nico that, although the boy shouldn't have been alive, he had done what was told for him.

"I'm still here, you know." A voice whispered in Nico's ear. He turned back towards the grave, seeing fifteen-year old Jacob sitting atop his own grave and smiling at Hadrian.

"I know that. They don't. They can't see or hear you." Nico's voice broke, tears running down his face. Jacob reached out and tried to ruffle Hadrian's hair, only to pass through the boy.

"So, I'm really dead?"

"No, you're worse than dead. You're stuck between realms. My sword absorbed your soul, as it does all those it defeats. Its like limbo, but I can call on you from time to time."

"Normally."

"What do you mean?" Jacob smiled before replying, looking towards Thalia. He got up and walked over to her, trying to give her a hug.

"I'm here to deliver a message from Hades."

"About?"

"...The sword. It...broke. All the souls that were trapped inside, destroyed. Hades managed to repair it, but I only have maybe two minuts left to...well, exist. After this..."

"I see." Tears began running down Nico's face like waterfalls on a cliff side, soaking everything underneath. Thalia didn't look up as Jacob passed through her, only shivering as she collapsed next to Hadrian by the grave marker, staring into the sky.

"I wish I didn't have to do it. Just, at the time, it seemed like it was..."

"Fate?"

"Yeah. My fate. Like I was destined to do it. Better me than you or Hadrian though."

"Yeah. Right." Nico dropped the umbrella, rain and tears mixing into a bittersweet mask over his face.

"Just tell me something."

"Anything."

"Why does it have to rain on such a beautiful day?" Jacob's faced shimmered, as if he too were about to cry.

"I don't know. Why did Hyperion choose such a stupid name for a phoenix? I'm going to miss you."

"No, you won't. There won't be anything left behind to miss." Jacob reached his hand out, placing it next to Nico's. Just as Nico was about to nod and tell him how thankful he was, the spirit burst into a light so strong, everyone outside could plainly see it. Nico ripped a hole in the earth, pulling out a sharper, full black sword.

"To Jacob!" Nico yelled, pointing his newly formed sword straight into the air. The campers around him followed suit. Then, he shoved it into the earth and drew it back out, creating a small box the size of a five year old. Precious gems spelled out Jacob's name and an image of him shooting towards the Kraken. After a time, the campers began to go back to their cabins, pulling Thalia, Nico, and Hadrain to their own. Every cabin had an understood deal. No one was to touch the newly formed altar. To this day, not one gem has been touched, nor one sapphire stolen, no ruby rubbed, and no jewel damaged in anyway. The altar stands now, as it will forever, a silent reminder of an unknown hero.


	16. Chapter 16: Extra 12

((That was kinda...sad. Poor Jacob. But, I had to think of someway to tie up my lose ends. These are the short side stories titled 'Jackass: Half-Blood Version' and 'Family'. They are both crappy.))

Nico di Angelo smiled into the camera he had mounted onto a backpack, turning towards Thalia.

"Hi! I'm Nico di Angelo, and welcome to Jackass: Camp Half-Blood edition. Basically, we're going to do all kinds of stuff like on Jackass. Say hey, Thalia."

"Hey. First, today's Percy's laundry day and this is his last pair of pants, so we're going to make it look like Percy peed himself by the lake. How you might ask? Let's watch." Thalia and Nico raced off to the dock, carrying mysterious red cans. Suddenly, the threw them towards Percy, making them explode and hit everything from his waist down. Then, Thalia ran up behind him and cut his hair in random places, telling Nico to haul butt to her cabin.

"Dude, it looks like his bladder exploded!" Nico laughed into the camera.

"Oh my gods, his face was like 'what the hell'!"

"Now, at this point you're probably wondering what substance we placed on our favorite cousin."

"Well, I'll tell you now. It's..." Thalia held up the red can, showing the camera the label. "Lighter fluid and gasoline! We got it from the camp store. They only use it for getting the camp fire going, or for quests in windy places where a normal flame would be hard to light. Now what?"

"Annabeth. Got an idea." Nico raised towards the Athena cabin with bottles of spray paint. They rushed in, knocking Annabeth out of their way. They quickly took all her blueprints, spraying them down with the paint. They kept doing stupid, small, annoying pranks like this until lunch.

"Okay, Percy's pants are dry now, and we've got a big idea planned." They waited at lunch till the Son of Poseidon walked by, then started the plan. Nico tripped Percy, sending him spiraling towards Thalia, who hit him with a greek fire marble. The fire ignited his pants and the flammable liquids, making him rush towards a conveniently placed bucket of 'water'. The' water ' quickly swirled around him, putting out the fire. He stepped out of his watery coffin, not noticing anything different. He stepped angrily towards Thalia and Nico, who were biting their lips in an attempt not to smile.

"What...the...hell?" Percy screamed at the top of his lungs, nearly busting their ear drums.

"We wanted to see how fire proof you were?" Nico asked, trying oh so hard not to laugh. Percy muttered something about killing the son of Hades, then walked away, back towards his lunch table, leaving behind a dripping trail of 'water'. Campers snickered as he walked by, making jokes.

"Hey, Percy, feeling a little blue today?"

"Wow. Guess he really is part water."

"Dang. I guess Smurfs _can_ take steriods." Percy turned towards the Iris cabin's table, where someone was playing with a mirror. He swiped it away from the boy, looking into it in dismay.

"Nico di Angelo! Thalia Grace! You're dead!" The now blue son of Poseidon rushed towards them, turning off the camera, and proceeded to beat the crap out of them. One day later, with all three in the infirmary, Thalia tried to sit up, but just groaned.

"Worst. Jackass. Ever."

**WARNING, DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED LOST HERO OR HATE VERY OOC NICOS**

"I love Christmas time. I know what you're thinking right now. "What? Nico di Angelo, Son of Hades, likes when people are happy, give gifts, and get really buzzed off of eggnog?" Well, yes I do. And, it's kinda attributed to the fact that Christmas is one of the darkest days of the year, in terms of...well, the amount of actual light during the day. But, this year is a bit different. See, this year, we're actually giving gifts at Camp, and I was invited! Normally, I just stay in the Underworld on Christmas, do something nice for my dad and stepmom, then have Hades yell at me, while Persephone freaks out, but then gets mood swingy and accepts me as her son. She's been really nice to me, for the past year. I've been living at...I guess at this point I can call the Underworld home, so, home and I think she's finally accepting me as her son. Hades doesn't have any children with her, so I think she's a little mad about that. And, she hasn't turned me into a flower in months. But, back to Christmas. I think the best part, is that Jason, Leo, and Piper are coming to visit." Nico told some wandering soul. He was walking around the outer edges of Camp with a skeleton, each trying to think of ideas for gifts. Nico didn't normally tell spirits this, but he was too excited to hold it in.

"So...," Caitlin the ghost began, "you're trying to think up gifts to give your friends?"

"Right."

"Why not...make a song?"

"See, now I know you were an Apollo kid."

"Shut up. I mean, make something you think they would like to hear or see or use over and over again."

"Something they'd like to use over and over again huh? Thanks..." Nico snapped his fingers, dissapting the skeleton and sending Caitlin to the EZ Death lane. Then, he set to work.

Two hours later, and a ton of wrapping paper, he carefully carrying a giant...thing into the middle of camp. Campers were already gathered in the mess hall, everyone running around in a mad frenzy to give gifts to their friends. He set down his gift on his black table and drank from his jewel encrusted goblet, refilling it with soda whenever he finished the first glass. Who knew being nice could be so tiring? Chiron walked over to his table, holding a carefully wrapped present in his hand.

"Merry Chrismas, Nico." He cried, setting it on the table.

"Thanks, Chiron." Nico unwrapped it, staring in awe at the gift. It was a WWII knife, brass knuckles forming the handle and a stainless black blade fitted on top.

"It belonged to one of your brothers who fought on America's side. He died the year you were born." Chiron looked over the large package on the table, raising his eyebrows in surprise.

"You'll see what it is later, don't worry." Nico laughed. Everyone ran around giving gifts for hours. Nico got a forensics science book from Annabeth, a miniature pirate skeleton automaton from Tyson that sang pirate songs and shot bones out of it's little cannon, a fossilized leaf from Juniper, a marble bust of himself summoning skeletons in the Battle for Olympus from Percy, and a jack o' lantern music box that Thalia had made with a little help from Leo, Jason, and Piper that played Green Day, Linkin Park, and All American Rejects songs when the candle inside was lit. He could even turn up the volume by turning the metal stem. Even Rachel had made him a gift, a drawing of him at a cave warming party they threw. He had just a little too much cake, which he hadn't had in eighty years, and freaked out. He did make lamp shades, pantless dancing, and rubber ducky underwear work though. Finally, campers began to notice that he didn't have any gifts to give. He stood up in front of the camp, right in front of Dionysus's table, and cleared his throat. Everyone turned to look at him, as usually he just snuck away from events like this to rock out with Thalia, Percy, and his Ipod in the woods. He took a deep breath and began.

"I found a wandering spirit when I was thinking of ideas today and began thinking of a gift. Yeah, I know, smart of me to wait till the last minute. But, she gave me some good advice. Make something people will like to see and use over and over. I started to think of what Christmas used to mean for me, and what I wanted most," Nico began, his voice wavering. He usually didn't tell his emotions like this, "I wanted a family. THen, I thought of how messy our families are here at camp. The Ares cabin hates everyone, Percy, Thalia, and I are accidents, the Aphrodite cabin likes to paint things pink. Not to mention the time the ENTIRE Apollo cabin said that Japan was called the land of the rising sun because Apollo got a boner there. I'm going to ask Chiron to put this in the Big House, for everyone to see. I worked really hard on it."

"That means, if you laugh at it, you're dead." Percy and Thalia yelled, giving him a thumbs up. Nico shook his head and tore off the wrapping paper, revealing the fruits of his labor. The Twelve Olympians stood at the top of the picture frame, each having lines coming off of them. Each god's line was their signature color, with their names printed on the line. Artemis's stopped at the words 'Hunters of Artemis', but the others continued. The lines led to the maps of the cabins, where each camper had their own picture on top of their cabin. Nico, Percy, and Thalia sat alone on their cabins, their lines a bright gold color. Tyson was in the bottom corner of the Poseidon cabin, labeled 'Tyson, awesomest Cyclops ever'. Every campers name was printed below their picture, while their cabin leaders had their own caption. Clarrise snorted in approval at 'best knife thrower'. Everyone sat their for a moment, taking in the picture.

"It's a family tree. I had to make a few...phone calls, but it updates itself everytime a camper arrives or leaves or cabin leaders change. If you're on a quest, your name moves over there to the quest corner at the very bottom. I made this because I wanted to make something I would remember for my first Christmas with my family in...well, for the newer campers sake's, let's say forever." People laughed and appluaded at Nico. Unfortunately, some Ares kid decided to boo. Clarisse threw him over to Thalia and Percy as they strut towards him. A moment later, a small tsunami of snow and a lightning bolt hit the kid, knocking him out. Unfortunately, as stray bolt hit Nico, sending him backwards. All noise stopped, all eyes on him. He stood up shakily and grinned.

"Yep. You gotta love family."


	17. Chapter 17: Extra 3

'"This is it, Percy, you have to tell her." A tiny voice in my head said. I opened my eyes, finding a not so tiny, but beautiful goddess in front of me. I fell out of bed, wrapping the covers around my body.

"Oh, please, I've already seen it." Aphrodite giggled.

"Tell who what? And, why are you here?"

"The answer to all of those are: your mother, your relationship, to tell you that."

"...and, you decided to come here, now, instead of getting someone to deliver a message or IM me?"

"Please, I don't 'IM' people. I find instant messaging a terrible way to carry a conversation. Oh, hold this." She threw her purse towards me and began digging through it, occasionally dabbing at her make up. A minute and a ton of mascara later, she picked it back up and helped me onto my bed.

"I mean Iris Message. The pretty colors are a bonus."

"Do not mock me, Perseus, I still have a hold on your relationship."

"Sorry."

"Now, I have scheduled a movie for you and Annabeth to see after school today. Before that, you will come here, set down all of the unnecessary school junk, and then go. I honestly don't see why school is so important." A moment later, a snow owl flew through my window, giving Aphrodite the evil eye.

"Great. Is everyone going to visit me?" I put my hands on my head, accidentally letting the sheet fall. Aphrodite blushed at my tent making skills, while Athena turned her head all the way around to see why Aphrodite did so, turned back, and shuddered.

"If I ever see that thing outside of your undergarments, Perseus Jackson, and any where near my daughter, I'l-"

"Oops, looks like I need to talk to Eros about those popcorn containers then. Ciao." I sat in an awkward silence at four a.m. with my girlfriend's immortal, angry mother. I quickly jumped under the covers and turned off my light. I felt something land on my chest and turned the light back on, gazing into the deep gray eyes of a snow owl.

"Staring contest." I said, trying to ease the tension.

"Owls don't have to blink."

"But, you're not an owl, you're a goddess. Therefore, you must blink, as not being a flying, nocturnal, beautiful bird of prey, but an equally beautiful goddess." She blinked a few times, trying to shake off my flattery and flew out my window.

One long day of school and two car rides later, Annabeth and I were standing side by side in my kitchen, holding hands behind our backs.

"Mom?" I asked, making her turn around. Annabeth brought our hands forward and Paul gasped.

"Are you okay with this?" I smiled.

"Yes, I do like it when children have hands."

"No, I mean, are you okay with..._us?_"

"Yes, most definetly yes." Paul answered for her, putting down _The Oddessey._

"So...it's okay if we go to the movies?" My parents nodded at Annabeth's question.

"And, it's okay if we come back here to hang out?" I pried, getting the same response.

"Study group?" Nodding.

"...What if we had a little...fun in my bedroom." A flying frying pan soared just above my head, grazing my hair line. "Perseus Jackson, if you knock sweet little Annabeth up, Gods So Help You, I wil-" I raced towards the door with Annabeth in tow, reaching for the keys to Paul's Prius.

"Whoops, gotta go, late for the movie!" I waved to Paul, and avoided the fork my mom threw at me. We jumped in the Prius, hit the gas, and drove to the movies. Just as the previews started, an idea struck Annabeth, her beautiful grey eyes lighting up.

"What?" I asked, popping a sour worm into my mouth.

"It's gonna suck when you tell my mom." I spit out the worm, pegging the person two rows ahead of us. We slinked down into our chairs, hiding.

"Yeah. Popcorn? I think the salty ones are on bottom." I felt her reach into the bucket, and then felt her fingertips grazing my belt. And, this is why nobody hears of Eros anymore.' Percy finished his story and looked at the group of new campers around him. A boy about thirteen raised his hand, and Percy recognized him as Jacob from the Nike cabin.

"Yes?" Nico threw a play microphone to him, only to have it thrown back with a 'Dude, wtf' look.

"Um...why did Paul have a Prius?" Jacob asked.

"...Okay, now that we're done with our break, let's get back to sword play!" Five minutes later...

"Sorry, Nico! I didn't mean to break your legs!" Percy called after the stretcher. A moment later, two skeletons popped out of the ground, one carrying what looked like a whip...

"Crap."


	18. Chapter 18: Sneak Peek

((Bad news people! Annabeth in Wonderland is on HOLD! GASP! Why? I can't seem to get anyone other than Nico, Thalia, and Percy pinned. By pinned, I mean which world they would be in. But, I want some minor characters too, like the Stolls, or Will Solace, or other cabin leaders. My point is, I have another story lined up. This, is told through the eyes of my original character, Jacob Baker, son of Apollo, as he, Percy, and the gang (sounds weird to say that...) go on a scavenger hunt through Alabama, Nico's least favorite state, to try and find a kidnapped demigod...kinda. Here is a sneak peek of the first chapter:))

I couldn't believe them, not choosing me for the quest. And, choosing four people to go, at that! That's bad luck, you'd think they'd choose me to balance it out. Plus, she was my child hood friend. Geeze, how many things would I have said to her if I knew we were demigods. I moved swiftly out of the mess hall, leaving my half eaten cheeseburger on my plate. I started to walk to the woods, when I heard a loud shout and the thunder of feet.

"Jacob! Jacob!" Will Solace and his _entire_ cabin called. The worst part of being the son of an Apollo child and Nike? Having all these aunts and uncles on Apollo's side. Geeze, sometimes I wish he'd keep it in his pants.

"Yeah?" I turned around, reaching for my twin blades. I didn't ask my parent for armor, like most kids. See, being a direct son of Nike, I knew I could run fast, and have good luck. Sometimes, I run so fast I feel like I'll grow wings and fly away with her, running messages around. And, I was obsessed with Pit from Kid Icarus at the time, so I asked my mom for a magic sword like his. Anyway, I reached for it quietly, trying hard not to spin it around quickly in my hands and cut down the tree next to me.

"You're going on the quest!" A camper called, cursing under his gasping breath. I perked up immediately. _I am? I am!_ I nearly hugged that guy before I rushed down to the Nike cabin to pack. Our..well, MY cabin is decorated very plainly. A few Nike symbols here, a pair of wings there, maybe a giant statue of her and a few medals that my siblings participating in the Olympics send. Of course, they are copies made by a magic forge, but they look pretty realistic. I packed in a rush, nearly forgetting my underwear. I detached my twin blades, setting one end in a hilt on either hip. Then, I ran towards Thalia's tree as fast as I could. Of course, I going pretty fast, an unintelligible blur to anyone who didn't know me. And, of course, I over shot the distance as I barreled up the hill and slammed into the tree. I heard laughter and picked myself up, straightening my clothes.

"I'm cool." Argus rolled his eyes, each one of them telling me 'No, no you're not.'. Percy Jackson and Annabeth were watching from underneath the tree while Thalia and Nico fought a few feet away. I settled in next to Percy, and greeted them both.

"What are they fighting about?" I asked Percy, reaching into my bag for a snack.

"It's either...eye liner, or their relationship. I can't tell."

"Why would it be their relationship?" I asked, even though in my head I had thought _Eyeliner? Doesn't the Nemesis cabin have tons of it?._

"I don't really know." I looked Percy over for a minute. He was nineteen, had just asked out the girl of his dreams 3 years ago, been through all kinds of adventures with her, yet they have never had one make out session in camp. And trust me, kissing rumors spread like wild fire thanks to the Aphrodite cabin.

"Well, we did just get back from our...test a week ago." Annabeth started. She sat up and stretched, pulling Percy closer to her.

"Oh. Right. I heard what happened. Like everyone else in camp."

"Yeah. I think their fighting about why Thal joined the Hunters." Annabeth yawned. She leaned against Percy's shoulder and watched the battle with a bored expression. Just as Chiron came galloping up the hill, I heard the deciding blow strike.

"Nico, when I say 'borrow' eye liner, that usually means to wear it once and give it back!" Thalia hit him in the butt with the but of her spear, making him wince in pain.

"Thalia, Nico, stop. If you think I will allow you to go on this quest in such a manner, you are wrong." Chiron said calmly, although his tail twitched in aggrivation. Percy, Annabeth, and I decided to skip the scolding and pile into the van, Argus tossing Percy the keys since he was to drive us to...wherever the quest lead. Okay, so I didn't know where we were going! So what? I was on a quest with the four coolest campers ever! After we finished packing, we sat in the car for a while, trying not to listen to Chiron as he told stories to Nico and Thalia about other campers in their situation. They hugged, made up, and got in the van. I sat in the back, trying to get everything organized.

"What did the prophecy say again?" Annabeth asked, taking a pen out of her hair and a memobook out of her pocket.

_"Five shall go south, to the land of fun._

_ Son of the luck bringer, shall be one._

_Trials and tribulations arise from the past,_

_one's trust will always last_

_ All to find a lost friend,_

_ And right her wrongs in the end." _Percy recited.

"Not very...creative for a prophecy, but I can see how I fit in." I admitted, rolling my eyes at my own stupidity.

"Any idea which way south?" Nico asked, flipping through a book.

"Well...that's the thing." Nico dropped his book, shooting Percy a death stare.

"No. I'm not going. Let me out."

"What?" I asked, then wished I hadn't. A pebble on the floor shot onto my forehead, somehow breaking skin. Someone tossed me a Band-aid and I slapped it on quickly. I'm not much of a healer, for being The Doctor's grand son and all.

"I was talking to Rachel about the oracle, then that led to the cover name for camp, which led to other produce, which lead to boiled peanuts...somehow, and then to Alabama." I shuddered at the thought that we might pass my old home.

"My least favorite state..." Nico muttered.

"Why?"

"Long story, I'd rather not tell it."

"Um... okay."

((Okay, that was...crappy, but I'll make some revisions later and I need you guys to do something for me. Tell me if I should keep Jacob a mixed son, or just a son of Nike! I'm really unsure about it! R&R to tel!))


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